


Instruments of War

by GravityHorse



Series: Instruments of War [1]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy, Warhammer 40.000
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Early Work, F/F, F/M, How Do I Tag, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm test posting here to post better there, You get this before Fanfiction but it may not be perfect, test post
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:15:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 80,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26155594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GravityHorse/pseuds/GravityHorse
Summary: The only thing that matters is the survival of the Human race.
Relationships: Female Shepard/Liara T'Soni, Original Guardsman/Coffee
Series: Instruments of War [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1899352
Comments: 16
Kudos: 30





	1. Warp Effect 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ayy so this story will actually be posted in its finished form on Fanfiction.net under the same name, Im posting here to see if people like it/dont like it/what to change and do better. Basically playtesting. Enjoy.

The Instruments of War

**[Author’s Note:** I don’t know two things about the lore of Warhammer and getting it wrong is heresy, but I got a friend on call and I’m constantly looking things up. I love everything about this universe and for the longest time have been reading crossovers with Mass Effect, my all time favorite franchise to date. I bought all three games and DLC for my PS3, Steam and Origin. I’ve fallen in love with Commander Shepard every time I start a new campaign, and most of all I love the stories.

The Mass Effect trilogy told a story I could never put down. Warhammer 40k tells a story I will never comprehend, but I’m making my way through the universe and have started picking up the books. I am currently slowly getting through the Forges of Mars. As I read these crossovers I decided to make one of my own, with a strong focus on both the heart of the Imperial Guard, and the complexities of the Adeptus Mechanicus.

I loved The Mission Stays the Same, and have been in talks with its author regarding future concepts and ideas, any comparisons between the two have been done with permission. There won’t be many, trust me I’m making this as an original story as I can, but some plotlines may intersect that I was especially fond of. Yes I’m aware her name’s also Victoria in The Mission Stays the Same, I had gotten through about ten thousand words before I realized it. I just really like the name.

Writing The Instruments of War was been thrilling, and so far I’ve enjoyed every second of it. I may not be the best writer, and my writing may be a slow burn, but let me tell you I’ve absolutely loved writing this thing. Making my characters and telling their stories, that’s what love to do. I have no idea where this is going or where it’s going to end, but I wake up in the morning with a smile on my face when I start typing. This is the result.

As a warning for future chapters, there is no schedule. There may be two updates in a week. There may be one update a year. Know that I have a plotline that runs all the way through ME3, but if at any point I don’t feel like writing anymore, I won’t. As of now the story stands at 60,000 words, and this took about two months to complete. If ever I feel done with writing this story, I will post it, so if there isn’t a “I’m done” message, the story goes on.

For plot related reasons and others that will make sense down the line, some events happen out of order of the original game. And if you think for a second I’m letting Legion get a grand total of two missions due to the crew getting melted otherwise, _that_ I consider to be heresy.

I’m starting with an obligatory “How our characters got here” chapter. Rest assured I will be releasing the first “real” chapter immediately after this one. I hope to write an entertaining story for all of you. Been reading a ton of these crossovers lately, so here is my own. Also, ME2, because come on. It’s the best. Femshep because she’s fun to write. Please enjoy. **]**

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

**It is the 41st Millennium. For more than a hundred centuries the Emperor of Mankind has sat immobile on the Golden Throne of Earth. He is the master of mankind by the will of the gods and master of a million worlds by the might of His inexhaustible armies. He is a rotting carcass writhing invisibly with power from the Dark Age of Technology. He is the Carrion Lord of the vast Imperium of Man for whom a thousand souls are sacrificed every day so that He may never truly die.**

**Yet even in His deathless state, the Emperor continues His eternal vigilance. Mighty battlefleets cross the daemon-infested miasma of the Warp, the only route between distant stars, their way lit by the Astronomican, the psychic manifestation of the Emperor's will. Vast armies give battle in His name on uncounted worlds. Greatest amongst His soldiers are the Adeptus Astartes, the Space Marines, bio-engineered super-warriors. Their comrades in arms are legion: the Imperial Guard and countless planetary defense forces, the ever-vigilant Inquisition and the Tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus to name only a few. But for all their multitudes, they are barely enough to hold off the ever-present threat to humanity from aliens, heretics, mutants -- and far, far worse.**

**To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable. These are the tales of those times. Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be relearned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods.**

‘’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’

“Which one of you throne damned pissants is getting thrown out of the Gellar field?”

Nobody moved a muscle, save for a single guardsman snapping to an aquila salute, his silver eyes sharped in defiance of the glares that lowed him.

“That would be me Sir.”

The sergeant’s head spun on a dime, his cybernetic eye scanning the barracks for the Emperor forsaken soul whom spoken up.

“Are you trying to bullshit me Corporal?” his gravel voice spilled out in barely held contempt. Suddenly a guardsman to the left interrupted.

“Sir! Corporal Coda was demoralizing the regiment and was therefore subjected to a standardized application of force along his lower abdominal region Sir.” He quickly spoke up.

“Out-fucking-standing trooper. Now drop and lick the tau shit off his boots. I will not tolerate the striking of a superior officer any more than I will tolerate the grox shit stain that is your insubordinate ass which the Emperor has damned me to babysit!”

Stepping over the back of the soldier that was now pressing his face into the ground by his worn shoes, the venerable man grabbed Coda by the collar and held him to the wall, exposing the augmetics of his mutilated hand.

“Now Corporal, would you kindly explain to me why I’m looking at a bright and lively piece of man meat?”

“You find the warp lonely Sir?” the guardsman pinned to the wall replied, to the restrained snickers of the regiment.

“Wrong again, Guardsman, it means your shit excuse for a meat shield needs to learn how to lead before something far uglier than me teaches you.” He said with a noticeable drop in his tone. Looking down at the trooper still at ground level he snarled. “While you’re down there, why don’t you give me about fifty pushups, Emperor knows you need it.” He turned his attention back to the corporal in his grasp, “This is how you administer punishment.” He professed, before socking Coda square in the gut with his glistening metallic hand.

Coda doubled over, air wheezing out his lungs as a deep purple bruise spread across his chest. He looked up towards the sergeant, meeting his steel eye and steeled eye. Raising to his full height, he reached out a hand, and pulled it into a perfect aquila salute. “Thank you Sir.”

Satisfied, Sergeant Fowler turned to address the platoon. “Gentlemen, I understand our task is daunting, our enemy invisible and ever present. At any moment the Gellar field could drop, just like any other warp jump performed by the Imperium, and at any moment every human life on this ship could be extinguished. And yet, here we live. We live and breathe and fight and die by the Emperor’s will, either on the other side of this damned dimension, or forever beside His glory in the immortal conquest. The ruinous powers hold no dominion over the forces of man, for we stand with the Emperor, and His light is eternal.” His voice softened to a whisper, a quick prayer uttered under his breath, before his cybernetic eye snapped back to focus on the guard.

“And never forget, pissants...” he said, eyeing Coda once more, “…It can _always_ get worse.”

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Red.

Perilous storms of circling miasma, a visage of death and pain incomprehensibly Red.

The captain swirled the wine in his chalice, taking only the briefest moment of his attention from the viewport before him. Incomparable to the plumes and waves battling for dominance just outside. To the Warp.

So much _Red_.

He’d been swirling the glass in his hand for about thirty minutes now, alone with his thoughts, not daring to drink.

The Captain peered around his office, once such lavish furnishings now seeming so dulled and bleak in perspective. The golden ornaments adorning Him bore the aquila and depictions of Holy Terra, an ever present reminder of the _Woelight’s_ eternal mission through the stars. Wood, a novelty amongst his fellow captains, carved in ornate patterns made up the chair upon which he sat and the desk of which he sat at.

Placing the cup upon, he reread the frantically scribbled ink on the parchment before him. The servitor attending to Lady Klare could barely come across as coherent in her last moments of consciousness, before she succumbed to her ravings.

He still couldn’t believe, couldn’t _accept_ , what was written in front of his eyes. It spit in the face of everything he knew. Everything he’d struggled for in his service to the Imperium, everything he’d sacrificed. Every life under his command that’d been lost, willingly or otherwise. But nothing changed the facts. Perhaps everything he’d sacrificed had been for this. Maybe this was his remuneration, his great blessing by the Emperor.

He took one last look as the only comprehendible line of writing before the servitor promptly ceased its function.

**_MAYDAY! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD SOMEONE ANSWER ME, PLEASE! THE COLONY SHIP IS UNDER ATTACK, WE DON’T KNOW WHERE WE ARE! THIS IS CAPTAIN MCCORMIC OF THE COLONY SHIP HAEVUS, WE’RE UNDER ATTACK BY UNKNOWN ALIEN THREAT, THEYRE TRYING TO TAKE THE SHIP! ANYBODY!_ **

Written in perfect high gothic and clearly not using any of the common vernacular. It was possible. The likelihood was so, so incomprehensibly infinitesimal, but despite going through every feasible way it _couldn’t_ be possible, he knew the chance was there. It was _possible_. He finally downed the contents of the cup.

There were plenty of reports of ships exiting the warp months after their intended arrival, no one in the galaxy fully understood how the damned place worked. But the light of the Emperor guided them all. Perhaps this was truly the work of the God Emperor, blessing a glimmer of hope in mankind’s darkest days. He recalled an unconfirmed report of a ship registered under the name _Holcomb,_ whose captain claimed had departed nearly 900 years ago. Him and all of his command staff were summarily executed for impersonating imperial officers. Records were later found of a ship named the _Holcomb_ departing in 082.M41.

And now…

Now Captain Yarnell couldn’t help but quietly laugh to himself. Perhaps the old bastard had been telling the truth after all. But this… even several hundred years was one thing, but _this…_

_And with the Hadex Anomaly so close by…_

”Irate Observation. The _Woelight_ maintains its originally intended course. This is unacceptable.”

He sighed into his empty cup “You cannot expect me to simply drop our operation because an unsecured, unverified transcript managed to get to my desk without melting our astropath.”

“Unacceptable.” Repeated the jarring synthesized voice coming from a vox fused to the ‘speaker’s throat. The clicking of mechanical legs grew louder until the spidery appendages could be seen in his peripheral vision, barely making out the deep crimson robes that adorned them, even as they turned to face him.

He stared, undaunted, as the myriad cybernetic eyes under the adept’s hood fixed themselves onto his own, studying him.

“Recitation. The implications of this discovery supersedes all prior directives.”

The captain stood from his seat, a pointed scowl on his face. “I fully comprehend the implications, Magos, which is why I encourage you to consult with the Mechanicus Lords of Mars to authorize such an exploratory fleet.”

“Irrelevant.” The machine cultist curtly replied, “Regrettable that further authorization is unobtainable. Astropath is inoperable, communications inoperable, line of contact with Fabricator General severed. Under circumstances, the highest voice of the Cult Mechanics speaks with me, the Omnissiah speaks with my voice. The _Woelight_ sings for the voice of its ancestor. You are ordered to divert course in light of this information.”

“Do not presume to command me, _adept_.” The captain tersely replied. “We are already far too close to the Hadex than I’d like. This detour of yours puts everyone in this ship in danger, ignoring the sacrifices we’d already be making by abandoning our current charge. You’ve read the transcript. There are a million possibilities as to its origins. It may have even been sent thousands of years ago, and the Hadex is the reason we’re receiving it now. Would you truly be willing to risk the lives of this entire crew to engage an unknown enemy, of unknown strength, for what’s overwhelmingly likely a destroyed STC aboard a derelict or destroyed ship, all of this under the preceding assumption that this isn’t a single massive trap?”

In one swift motion the Mechanicus Lord raised a laspistol welded to a mechadendrite to the captain’s head, his stare unwavering.

“I’d be willing to risk you.”

‘’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’

“I’ve found a pilot I think you might like. I hear he’s one of the best…” the synthesized voice of the cadent businessman spoke in confident anticipation. A plume of digital smoke flickered from the lips of the holographic display, a cigarette held in satisfied measure.

“Someone you can trust.”

The unshakable green eyes of Victoria Shepard narrowed as the hologram deactivated itself, a final smirk etching itself in her mind, the metallic blue stare fizzling away. Contemplating the reliability of her new employer, she turned her mead at the sound of slow and persistent footsteps behind her.

“Hey Commander.”

Her jaw dropped. Standing, _standing_ before her was the face of the last man she ever remembered. The man she saved. The man who saved her. Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moraeu.

Dozens of thoughts raced through her head, first and foremost thanking the powers that be that he’d made it off the wreckage of the Normandy. Remembering hurt her head slightly, but it did not stop the memories flooding back.

_So glad he’s alive, how did he get here, how is he **walking!?**_

“Just like old times huh?”

Victoria could only stifle a laugh.

She continued to stare at the back of his head as they walked together passed the hiss of metal doors.

“I can’t believe it’s you Joker…”

“Look who’s talking, I saw you get spaced!”

After all that had happened, they’d hit it off as though it were only yesterday. Two years. Two years in the cold dark grave. She was still trying to wrap her head around that. And yet here stood, waltzed effectively, her pilot, acting like it was just another day after Citadel bureaucracy and fighting a bunch of Geth. After talking long enough, however, she noticed something concerning. Jeff constantly avoided direct eye contact with her for prolonged periods of time, even if there was no inflection in his voice to hint towards discomfort it was her job to read people. It hurt her to think about, and more so how well he hid it.

_He shouldn’t feel guilty about losing the Normandy._

Instead she matched the casual cadence of his voice, upbeat and prepared to tackle whatever Cerberus threw them at.

“I got lucky, with a lot of strings attached. How’d you get here?”

Joker slowed his pace considerably, his eyes downtrodden as she came up beside him.

“It all fell apart without you Commander. Everything you stirred up the Council just wanted it gone.” He said with barely held disdain. Victoria could clearly see the pain in his eyes.

“The team was broken up, records sealed, and I was grounded. The Alliance took away the only thing that mattered to me, hell yeah I joined Cerberus.”

She felt a little surprised, Joker knew in detail the debriefings of all the missions they’d previously run together fighting Cerberous. He knew exactly what they were capable of.

“You really trust the Illusive Man?”

Joker smirked with a sideways glance and a shrug of his shoulders.

“I don’t trust anyone that makes more than I do. But they aren’t all bad. Saved your life. Let me fly…” he said, the pace of his breath quickening, his eyes focused towards the viewport he’d stopped behind.

“…and there’s this.”

She stared out the window. Through the darkness and obscurity of the room below, she could barely make out a vague outline that caught her heart in her chest.

“They only told me last night.”

One light. A single spotlight bathed the room on the other side, and her eyes slowly widened. Another light. One after the other, the lights in the corridor flicked on down the line, each revealing one more length of silver metal, one more smooth reflection. One more memory.

It was beautiful. It was powerful. It was home.

Joker smiled, sharing her mind.

“It’s good to be home, huh Commander?”

Victoria almost shed a tear, though of course she’d never dare. Staring at the bold and proud SR2 emblazed on the port side of the wing, she remembered it all. She was Shepard. Commander Shepard. Hero of Humanity, Savior of the Citadel. While she breathed the Reapers would fear her. With a conviction and determination the galaxy hadn’t seen in nearly two years, Victoria Shepard smiled.

“I guess we’ll have to give her a name.”

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

“Magos Soelok, you will be tried and executed for munity and your skitarii disarmed and apprehended, to be quarantined for the remaining duration of this voyage.”

“Unacceptable. You will alter course.”

“I will not. If you claim to speak with the voice of the Omnissiah, then I speak with the voice of our God-Emperor, and I will not throw away the lives of his stalwart defenders for your blatant fanaticism.”

A moment passed, before the Magos lowered and removed his weapon from the captain’s head. Slowly, and with a voice far softer than the captain thought possible for the mechanical beings, Soelok’s vox synthesizer cracked to life.

“…We must. You know we must. This is beyond the quest for knowledge, or the Mechanicus itself. This could change the face of the Imperium. To be so close, in the moment we near the system, is too cosmically coincidental to be left to chance. This is a blessing from the Omnissiah. Surely you have felt it?” he said, almost hopeful if the captain could believe it.

He shook his head reluctantly. “It is precisely that coincidence that troubles me. A discovery of this magnitude at such an opportune time and place is far too convenient. What you say may be true, that this is a gift truly sent by the God Emperor, and if so would make this the most critical endeavor of the millennium. But we must consider Magos… even if what you say is true, even if everything she saw was true, we are talking about a force that overwhelmed a ship designed in the pinnacle of mankind’s greatness, one that we could not possibly hope to overcome. What you are asking for, what this would demand, would likely cost the lives of nearly every man and woman on this ship, including our own. We may never return to the Imperium again.”

The Magos stood in… contemplation? It was hard to discern their otherwise emotionless postures. Finally, the vox cracked to life once again. “Conjecture. Captain, it is with my understanding that every man and woman on this ship will die in service to the Emperor regardless. They are honorable, and they are relentless. The conviction of their will is indominable. If they understood the circumstances of this discovery, you may very well find yourself with another munity on your hands.” He said with some pause.

Was he… did a member of the Adeptus Mechanicus just make a joke? He never thought he’d see the day. Or perhaps he was being completely serious. Tallus Soelock was incredibly young for a Magos. Young and ambitious. Far further had his body been amputated and replaced in one way or another than most adepts his age. Yarnell wouldn’t put it passed him to engage in this endeavor purely for the credit of the discovery within the higher echelons of the Cult Mechanicus. Nevertheless, the _possibilities…_

Despite his warranted objections, the captain sighed in defeat.

“Give… give the order to change course.” He resigned, but with fresh and fervent resolve.

“It has already been done.”

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

“What the fuck is this Fowler?”

The heavily augmented man sneered as he lay back in his chair.

“That would be ‘What the fuck is this, Sergeant?’, Corporal Coda.” Returning his glowering stare, the guardsman stood before his senior officer in contempt. “You know just as well as I do that we have no say in where the captain of this ship takes us. You have something relevant to bitch about, take it up with him.”

Coda scowled. He knew the Sergeant was mocking him. Merely making the trip to the captain’s quarters would be hours of walking through endless corridors, with the laughable assumption of being allowed in his presence, never mind taking up a moment of his time. To suggest a change of course would be to sign a summary execution order, his discarded corpse lost forever to the cold depths of the void.

“This is madness and you know it, he is-“

“THE CAPTAIN IS DOING, what he feels is best. Utter another treasonous word and I swear by the Emperor I will remove you here and now.” Fowler cut harshly. “You may be my second, Marcus, but do not expect clemency from me. You know your duties. Do not waste our time.”

Coda tightened his fist, letting out a slow breath. “We’re abandoning them. They’ll be slaughtered without us.”

Fowler took a deep swig from the recaf on his desk. “Yes. Yes we are, and likely yes they will. You know that, I know that, and you can be Emperor damned sure the Captain knows that. Which can only mean that whatever caught his attention so badly must be worth the lives we’re sacrificing.”

“THEY ARE MEN!” the Corporal shouted, losing his composure. “This isn’t a fucking numbers game Fowler, we are throwing away the lives of countless righteous men and women to the hands of filthy fucking xenos!”

There was a palpable silence between the two, Sergeant Fowler removing a cigar from his desk drawer and taking a long drawl. He breathed out slowly, a long clear line escaping his chapped lips.

“Then we better fucking make it count Corporal.”

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

“She seems to be taking this surprisingly well, all things considered.” Miranda said to an otherwise empty room, the pale blue light of the hologram her only company. Said hologram stared at her with equally blue prosthetic eyes, taking a long drawl from the cigar between his fingers.

“A sense of familiarity is all it takes in situations like these.”

Miranda cracked a rare smile. “You say that like these situations are common to you. What we’ve done hasn’t been seen by humanity in over two thousand years.”

The cybernetic eyes focused on her in respectful admiration. “A testament to our cause.”

Miranda crossed her arms, putting her weight on one heel. “Regardless, Shepard’s been dead for nearly two years. Even if we did everything right I’d be surprised to see minimal psychological damage, especially considering the trauma she’s experienced. I recommend keeping her on a periodical psyche evaluation.”

He took another long drag from his cigarette. “Granted. If you think it’s best, it certainly can’t hurt. You’re still the leader of Project Lazarus, however I’d prefer you not do so behind her back. We need Shepard fully committed to this. We need her to trust you at least for the near future if this investment is going to succeed. Recruiting Flight Lieutenant Moreau has already proved invaluable in keeping Shepard in our court, as well as assuaging her misgivings about Cerberus as a whole. I plan to replicate this feat with Dr. Karin Chakwas, who is currently in talks with one of our operatives in her field.”

Miranda nodded in assurance, her eyes downcast. “For the moment, at least. She excelled in every aptitude test within the Lazarus facility during her escape. Despite everything, her skills are as sharp as ever. She’ll come around, but her past with some of our more isolated cells will take time to overcome. Given the existent dossiers I expect we’ll be headed to Omega soon. I can’t think of a better place in the galaxy to get the infamous Victoria Shepard to work with us more amicably.”

The Illusive Man continued to stare at the hologram, a small smirk marking his face. ”Confidence is your strongest suit Miranda. Shepard will come to understand you, and understand us in time, and with understanding fosters trust. I am under no misconceptions that the relationships she’ll build during this mission will make her both dependent and dependable, as she always has been. Shepard’s leadership has always been her greatest weapon. It is also our greatest asset in earning her loyalty. I trust you will do your very best in Shepard’s service, but never forget that it may in fact be your reliance on her that earns her respect.”

Miranda didn’t respond right away, surely mulling over his words. “Understood. If there’s nothing else I’ll forward the remaining dossiers to-“

“Actually there is something else.” He said, breathing out another plume of smoke in a rare moment of cutting Miranda off. “Something that just came through while you and I’ve been conversing, and something I believe we can take full advantage of given we seize the opportunity.”

Noting Miranda’s raised eyebrow, he continued. “One of our blacksites studying alternative applications for mass effect technology had gone dark for several weeks, until now. We just received a ping from the automated emergency channel. Preliminary reports indicate the facility’s VI is still operational, however heavily damaged by unknown means, and by far more concerning is the lack of life signs onboard the station. Within a facility of over five hundred, I’m only reading three survivors.”

Miranda tightened her eyes in a solemn grimace before resolve won out. “So, you want to destroy the facility and wipe the Vi?”

“No, I don’t.” he countered definitively, “I want all assets recovered, including the VI, most especially the three surviving scientists and their research. Their work, whatever’s left of it, cannot be allowed to expire. I want Shepard running point on the operation.”

Miranda’s apprehension was readily apparent. “Sir, bringing Shepard to one of our more… independent projects so soon after recruitment will only further strain our reputation in her eyes.”

“On the contrary Dr. Lawson.” he replied confidently, “We’ll be stopping a potentially rogue and dangerous splinter cell. In her eyes that will validate our accountability as an organization, and prove just how far we’re willing to go to stop threats to mankind, no matter where they come from.”

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

“Well there’s something you don’t see every day.”

Julius gripped his lasrifle with renewed vigor as the precise mechanical march of the legion echoed around him. Each in perfect lockstep, creating waves of rolling thunder reverberating through the immense walls. Each guardsman gave them a wide berth, few too comfortable interacting with the otherwise alien beings, many needing to be reminded that they were still in fact human. Skitarii.

Suddenly the massive voxphones lining the walls cracked to life, a jarring blare of static filling the grand hall. Many guardsmen covered their ears, while the Skitarii legions bowed their heads in solidarity. It was then that Julius realized that what they were hearing was in fact the Adeptus Mechanicus lingua technis, holy binary. While his unwavering fealty to the Emperor made Julius feel that some of the Mechanics’ teachings and beliefs boardered on heresy, they claimed to serve the same god under a different name. Somehow, he doubted if what they worshiped could be considered human at all. He knew the imperium would fall without them, but nevertheless, they were disconcerting at the least.

Suddenly the noise of their prayers ceased, and amongst the silence came the hiss of hydraulics. In the center of the room which easily held the majority of the guardsmen onboard, a platform arose that could easily be seen by all, despite the figure atop it being relatively miniscule in perspective. However, it didn’t take Fowler’s eye to discern the red robes and barely concealed metal adorning him.

_Huh._

Julius was a simple man, conscripted from a farming village on Rychos, along with a few squads in the guard aboard the Woelight. He drank, he smoked, he may or may not owe a few lho sticks to Florian but he’d swear by the Emperor he’d cheated that last game. Now he stood with his platoon alongside the others, before the larger than life Magos, and suddenly his problems seemed that much smaller.

“Someone has a big opinion of himself…”

A few snickers fell amongst the guard, but Julius contemplated. Members of the Adeptus Mechanicus were often regarded as arrogant and conceited, though in truth this came from a true conviction in their own superiority. True, it was arrogance all the same, but instead of the usual character grandstanding the Mechanicus believed in objective, tangible superiority, which their mechanical apparati verified. He glanced toward Sergeant Fowler. Despotic as he was, Julius found a respect for the man, as well as the cybernetics he’d adorned over his long years in service to the guard.

He smiled slightly to himself in memory of working for his mother, one farmhand of many. One would expect such a rural environment to find affection in its residents, but time had only fostered in Julius a bitter resentment. While he certainly didn’t plan on joining the Astra Militarum, and as disconcerting as the panic on his fellow conscript’s faces were, Julius found himself appreciating the drastic change in scenery.

The machines fascinated him, and above them stood the Mechanicus, Lords of every weapon, vehicle and piece of farming equipment he’d ever used. He knew the adepts weren’t particularly popular with the guard, but Julius actually found them rather tragic instead, their passions and joy so inhibited by their technology that none could appreciate the gifts they possessed. Not for the first time he wondered if in another life he’d have joined the Mechanicus, but looking down at his biological hand, flexing it, he shook his head. Such was not his destiny nor his place, for he belonged at the Emperor’s side, and when he died he would proudly join the immortal conquest. Shaking himself from his grandiose daydreams, the speaker began to converse in synthesized low gothic.

**“Valliant guardsmen of the Imperium, the immovable bulwark of mankind, you have been chosen by the Emperor in his desperation for a massive undertaking that will forever change the course of human history.”**

“Oh this should be good…” someone in the regiment rolled their eyes.

**“We are recovering a dark age colony ship.”**

Muttering and vague shouts were heard through the crowds, a miasma of confusion and acrimony directed towards the tech priest.

**“Within this ancient vessel holds the key to reunifying every lost colony in the galaxy, with technology superior to the greatest of forgeworlds, armaments capable of eradicating the xenos threat. We, the _Woelight,_ will bring the stars to heel under the might of mankind.”**

You could hear a lho stick drop.

“…Bullshit.”

“Corporal?”

“Absolutely impossible. Typical fucking Magos. Sacrificed millions of human lives for what I guarantee is an Emperor damned piece of rusted garbage. You have got to be kidding me. All this for a fucking tech priest’s oiled dream.”

Marcus intentionally ignored the tightening fists of Sergeant Fowler, whose face was quickly turning a few shades redder.

**“You must be made aware that we are nearing dangerously close the Hadex Anomaly, and potentially facing an unknown xenos threat. Your captain demands only the best, time is of the essence. We are unable to detect the fluctuations of the Hadex, and as such it is imperative that we recover the artifact as quickly as possible. I will personally be directing the ground forces.”**

With that a rumble of murmurs rolled through the crowd. “Well I’ll be damned…” “What do you know? Metal man still has a pair.”

**“Upon locating the colony ship within the Oloraistos system, each battalion will be escorting my skitarii as we make our advance towards the hull. From there I will lead a detachment to the command bridge. We will secure the ship, we will secure the fully intact STC, and we shall return to the Imperium as heroes and saviors of Mankind. For the Emperor!”**

No one knew how to react for a moment. Then Julius raised his lasrifle.  
“For the Emperor!”

And another member of the guard, “For the Emperor!”

“For the Emperor!”

“FOR THE EMPEROR!”

**“FOR THE EMPEROR”**

**_“FOR THE EMPEROR!”_ **

Coda sighed into his chest.

“For the Emperor.”

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Marcus Coda’s rage could no longer be contained.

“Emperor damn you, you rotten fucking tin man!” he screamed in anger. Fowler’s grip on his throat only tightened.

“I thought I could trust you with this, boy, despite your callowness. But you’re no better than the shredded sack of guts you replaced. You don’t got what it takes to lead. The men who stand beside you, they look up to you, admire you. Yet you feel nothing but contempt. You disgrace the Emperor, and as of this moment, you have officially been relegated to my personal squad. Command of the 224th‘s second platoon will fall to _Corporal_ Julius. Consider yourself dismissed.” He said, releasing his grasp.

Coda fell to the floor, rubbing his throat, glaring at the Sergeant. “Mark my words Fowler. I will have your fucking heart for this…” he spat, “It’s just about the only thing human left in you.”

“You still don’t get it do you?” Fowler sighed breathlessly, looking down at the soldier beneath him. “You’re done. Finished. The only reason you still hold breath is because the Magos conveniently has a nice little suicide mission in this operation’s detail.” Coda’s eyes widened, but Fowler shook his head. “I volunteered. It was going to be me and my personal fireteam while you lead the 2nd in a nice cozy containment run. You just had to hurt moral…” he pulled a cigar out his jacket pocket and lit it, taking a long drawl before putting it out on Coda’s leg. He didn’t offer the satisfaction of a reaction. “And now, now I’m volunteering you. Unless of course you’d prefer a lasbolt to the skull right now, in which case I’ll happily oblige.”

His hand rested on the sidearm at his hip, flexing his mechanical fingers in anticipation. Their eyes locked in dead silence, to which Coda wordlessly stood up, meeting his level gaze. Fowler sneered. “Pity. Hoped you’d at least put up a fight so I’d have a decent reason to put you down.”

Coda scoffed. “This isn’t about us. This isn’t even about the Imperium. This is about you and a personal vendetta you never got over. I just don’t happen to fit into your elongated deathwish. Guess I’m not so easy to kill.”

To his surprise the Sergeant actually laughed at that. “Oh, you’d like to think so wouldn’t you. You, Corporal, are in fact very easy to kill. No wife. No children. No one to care if you come home in a cast or a casket. You better hope whatever kills you on this run kills you quickly, because I like to take my time.” his cybernetic eye scrutinizing the unwavering guardsman heavily. “Though from what I hear death by psyker is a slow and painful one as your brain melts out your eyes.”

At last letting his emotions get the better of him, Coda took a step back. “What are you talking about?”

Finally gaining the upper hand, a cruel smirk grew of Fowler’s scarred face. “Didn’t I mention? Our little suicide squad is lugging the astropath through whatever hellscape the skitarii carve in front of us. Magos wouldn’t dare risk his precious metal men being so close to her. But don’t you worry darling, I’ll hold your hand the whole time if you’re scared.”

Marcus was beginning to taste the morning’s rations in his mouth.

“See you in Bay 13”

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Corporal Coda stood, holding his lasrifle in solidarity, as he dazed at the Thunderhawk dropship prepped for his arrival. Wonderful.

Making eye contact with Sergeant Fowler he made his way to the fireteam, each giving him a cursory glance before returning to their idle behaviors. Marcus considered introducing himself before all four stood at attention, staring beyond him. He turned around to see the Magos, Soelok he learned his name was, leading his personal platoon of skitarii elite and his tech priest lieutenants. If he was being honest, Marcus always considered the mutilated cybernetic soldiers hard to look at, but their leader was something else entirely. Where some skitarii held blades and lasguns, the Magos had them _fused to his fucking skin_. If he could even call it skin anymore. At this point it was almost completely metal. He wasn’t sure how much he would see underneath the crimson robes, but from Coda’s perspective, he was observing something far more machine than the _Woelight_.

Trailing behind them were two skitarii, each carrying one end of a large capsule of some kind, and it was only when they passed him did Coda realize it was a containment case. For _her_.

He swallowed uncomfortably at the thought of handling such a dangerous speci- _person_ , but the alternative was Fowler, and he knew which one he’d pick any day. He needed to remind himself, she was sanctioned, and far more importantly, she was _unconscious._ Why on Holy Terra the Magos insisted on her presence during this mission was still a mystery to him, but somehow he doubted the Mechanicus adept would disclose such information.

_Which is why he was beginning to panic as the Magos scuttled towards him._

His expression betrayed no emotion as he felt the shimmering green ‘eyes’ of the tech priest scanning him. The familiar crack of the voxphone came from his voicebox.

“Gratification. Guardsmen, your bravery and dedication to the Emperor in his time of need is above admirable. I am honored to be amongst his fearless defenders. The Emperor protects.”

“The Emperor protects.” He heard in chorus from behind him, Fowler’s fireteam clearly having interacted with the Magos in some occasion in the past.

“The Emperor protects.” Coda responded quickly, not wishing to incur the ire of either superior, and more importantly now wishing not to disrespect the name of the God Emperor. 

“Affirmation. My Skitarii will protect us as we make our way to the core of the ship _,_ presuming it is intact. Should we confirm its location, additional Thunderhawks will be dispensed, allowing for the full might of the regiment to support us. I will need to sooth the _Haevus_ , no doubt the trauma of losing her crew will make recovering her and her STC difficult, nevertheless we will prevail. Guardsmen, we will make history, and the Imperium will remember your names for eons.”

None of the imperials spoke, but the Magos cocked his head to the side, as if listening to an unheard voice. “Preparations are complete, and we will be dropping out of warp within a standard hour. Guardsmen, if you’ll excuse me.” He said, heading back towards the shuttle.

“You’re pretty weird for a tech priest.” Coda commented absentmindedly, before realizing what he’d said, and subsequently feeling Fowler’s metal hand smack the rear of his battered helmet.

What neither of them expected were the synthesized laughter, genuine laughter, emanating from the Magos.

“Indeed.”

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Still mulling over the fact that he’d actually said that, Coda inspected his lasgun for the fifth time that day as he fruitlessly tried to avoid the gaze of either the Adept or the Sergeant, the latter being more difficult as Fowler refused to sit anywhere besides next to him. The last week had slogged by as the _Woelight_ made its way through realspace, personally he blamed the way the Hadex had been acting, but nevertheless the Magos was apparently ecstatic to find the _Haevus_ ’ radiological signature on the desolate planet below. Again, Coda found his behavior rather strange for a tech priest, even more so due to the sheer extent of Tallus’s augmentations. Emotion was something almost shunned in the Mechanicus, and while Tallus certainly wasn’t the most affectionate individual, he had an odd tendency of indulging in rather human sentiments. However, Soelok’s eccentricities were currently the least of his worries. What concerned Coda now was the utter lack of hostile presence within the system. There had been nothing. No starships or warpstorms of any kind. Whatever took down the _Haevus_ was likely still down there with it. And he’d be ready for it.

To his left was a heavier man of darker skin, known affectionately as Boomer, who stroked his melta with slightly more tenderness than Coda found comfortable. The skitarii didn’t seem to mind though, and considering they believed weapons to have souls of their own, Coda decided it couldn’t be too heretical in the eyes of their twisted machine cult. His breath smelt of amasec, and while Marcus certainly had nothing against drunks, he’d rather not his life depend on one. Across was the remainder of the fireteam, a rifleman who called himself Saito and a marksman sleeping beside his longlas who the other three only called Legless. The mute obviously still had his legs, and when Coda attempted to make small talk to inquire about it, all three gave him a deathglare with the obvious translation being don’t ask.

So he sat in silence, bored out of his mind, when suddenly all the overhead lights flicked on and all skitarii stood at attention. Legless woke up in an instant, his hand on his sidearm, his eyes scanning the walls of the dropship and the faces adorning it. Saito put a hand on his forearm, and that seemed to calm him down, though his restless agitation was still readily apparent. The smell of oil and lit incense clouded the interior of the Thunderhawk, the skitarii bowing their heads as more static garbled prayers of lingua technis flooded the corridor. Coda winced slightly, not wanting to show disrespect to the soldiers by covering his ears, but wondering whether they’d even care. Then again, there was the chance they would care very much, and he would therefor watch his own headless body slump to the floor before realizing the gravity of his mistake. So for the moment, he bared with it, until Soelok’s synthetic voice could be heard. “Soldiers, warriors, defenders of mankind, the Machine God and his deliverance in the Omnissiah, in the name of our Emperor, on this day we define history.”

He felt the shuttle begin to move.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

By the dozens the Thunderhawks descended on the planet below, like arrows fired onto its unexpecting surface. The ground shook with the weight of the guard as one after the other the ramps were descended and the thunder of the march rolled across the barren plains. For only a moment Coda stood in wonderment. It was true after all.

Spanning nearly twice as long as the battleship _Woelight,_ the _Haevus_ was a glorious sight to behold. The legions of the Mechanicus were deep in worship, while the horde of the guard stood in reverence and awe. It was nearly an hour before the order was given to advance, as the tech priest basked in ritual and ceremony while the guard established defensive lines. As of yet, nothing had come to attack them, but in no way was anyone cautious. Least of all Coda, who praying repeatedly to the God Emperor above, held Lady Klare in his arms. She was light and almost dainty, betraying the immense psychic potential she possessed, and the living weapon he carried.

No one made any motion to approach him, least of all the fireteam, who maintained a tight square surrounding him at three-meter intervals. When the call finally came, he hoisted her up, Fowler and Boomer taking point with Saito and Legless flanking him. And the armies marched. In the distance to the far side he could make our now Corporal Julius taking point of the 224th‘s second platoon, and while he felt a ping of anger towards himself in his chest, he held no resentment. Julius was a fine soldier, if a bit idealistic at times. Over the time they’d known each other they had developed a strong bond. A camaraderie born of three survived firefights, each more miraculous than the last, his prior mission earning him a promotion. One he’d squandered with his relentless bickering with the Sergeant they both despised. Nevertheless, he was their superior officer, and he’d pushed his luck too far. So now he looked towards his friend commanding the regiment with pride.

Which is why he promptly fell to his knees seeing the bright green beam connect to him, his face disintegrated.

**“NECRONS!”**

There was nothing but utter chaos, every guardsman in the 224th scrambling for defensive positions, hailing lasfire across the line as several dozen beams returned to barrage their positions.

“CORPORAL!” Fowler screamed as the four hunkered down behind a large boulder.

“Guardsman! Quickly! Bring her here!” Tallus shouted at the highest volume his voxphones could cast. Shaking himself out of his stupor, he grabbed Lady Klare and rushed her over to the makeshift barricade, though in his mind he knew that such a structure would do nothing against Necron beam weaponry.

Tallus muttered to himself, his mind racing. “Very strange…”

As the legions of skitarii applied suppressing fire, Legless took the opportunity to peek just around the corner with his longlas, taking one potshot after the other at the unfeeling skulled visages lining the _Haevus._

Magos Soelok was ranting to himself. “A tombworld. The improbability. Defies logic.”

Coda rolled his eyes at the muttering Magos, preparing to lay Lady Klare down and pull out his lasrifle, when the unthinkable happened.

The skitarii were… _advancing._

As the number of energy beams hammering their ramparts noticeably waned, many skitarii soldiers took forward positions, and while the cold necrodermis phased away after sustaining damage, none came to replace it. Barricades and vox phones pumping out prayers were being established along the battle lines, and against all possible belief, the guard was winning, handily. Two large skitarii troops shambled their way to Coda’s position, carrying a large device he immediacy recognized as a master vox caster. Magos Soelok instantly broke our of his stupor, and upon interfacing with the machine, broadcast to all channels.

**“CHARGE!”**

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

The run was long, and filled with lasfire, but by the grace of the God Emperor they were making their advance. The necron warriors surged forth, but the sheer numbers of the militarum and the lethal precision of the skitarii brought them to a grinding halt, and slowly but steadily they were being pushed back.

None of which currently mattered to Coda, as his current primary objective was survival.

Lucky him that he and the fireteam led the Emperor damned charge. The only thing between him and atomization were an unconscious psyker, a drunk with a melta, a cyborg liable to kill him anyway, and several hundred skitarii warriors. Never was he so fucking thankful to work alongside the Mechanicus. Despite what he thought about their abominable waste of their humanity, he could not deny just how damned effective they were at killing things. Not that you could necessarily kill the necrons mind you, not on the battlefield at least, but they still fell to sustained lasfire and the legion had plenty to give.

Behind him were Legless and Saito, who was clutching a nick on his arm. Even the smallest scrape by a necron beam weapon caused massive cell death around the wound, so armed with only a laspistol Saito pressed forward. And between them ran, crawled more like, the Magos. After what felt like hours they were within 100 meters of the _Haevus_ , the scope of the ship so great and massive he almost forgot that his life was in mortal jeopardy. But the Imperial horde advanced, and with each passing moment their victory felt ever more assured.

The necrons were commanderless, with only the most simple tactless warriors rising to face them. Granted, a blind mace could still crush a swift child, and the weapons of the necrons shredded the guard. But it was not enough. The guard marched. The skitarii marched. Coda had a steady jog as he carried Lady Klare. And finally, unbelievably, the thrum of beam discharge ceased. Victory, in the name of the God Emperor.

The 224th cheered.

Corporal Coda caught his breath, as the skitarii and their tech priest masters fell silent. Slowly, Tallus approached the vast hull of the apotheotic vessel, placing a reverent hand aboard her frame, bowing his head in mourning. Slowly, the other tech priests of the Woelight and their skitarii subordinates did the same. Prayers were long and heartfelt, the members of the Mechanicus displaying far more emotion than most of the guard had ever witnessed in veneration to the ancestor ship.

Tallus slowly lowered his hand, the mechanical static slowly quieting. “Lamentation. She is in such pain. She has lost so much. She does not know where she is. She weeps.” he said, annunciating each word with deference.

“Well… We killed the necrons, right? Avenged her crew, if only slightly.” Boomer said with some veiled hope.

Tallus shook his head. “Confutation. The necrons did not disable this ship.”

The silence was tangible, Fowler’s mechanical eye trying to read the Mechanicus Lord. “What the hell do you mean by that.”

“It’s quite simple, really.” Tallus replied dejectedly. “It was far too easy. There is not a single necron starship within this system, the _Woelight_ remains unassailed. Merely dozens of necron vassals roam this planet, not thousands. Conclusion. This tombworld was awoken by the crash of the _Haevus._ Effect, not cause.

“…Meaning whatever mad bastards did this are still out there somewhere.”

“Correct.” Sloelok nodded solemnly, “I do not know what has assailed her, her voice is broken, splintered. I will request she grant us passage, but we must be swift. Furthermore I do not know what we will discover inside, but considering the invaders did not repel the necron forces, there is an 87.33 percent chance they have instead fortified themselves further within the confines of the ship. More pressingly, the Hadex remains radically unstable. We are operating within an unknown time window, the STC must be recovered before the Hadex expands to this system. Warp storms and time dilations will render our operation futile.”

“Assuming it doesn’t kill us outright.” Coda sighed, his eyes meeting the glares by the fireteam. “Okay but can somebody else carry the witch because my arms are starting to cramp.”

With a series of eye rolls Fowler and his men rearmed themselves, preparing to face the unknown threat inside.

“So no then?”

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Cautiously, they made their way around corners and through corridors, Soelok and his skitarii in deep reverence with each passing step. The halls were silent, their walls untarnished. Pristine in every sense of the word. Breathing was slow and shallow, as if the slightest sound would disrupt the sanctity of this hallowed place. Lasrifles raised to attention, the skitarii sweeping the halls with immeasurable precision, Legless’s index finger resting beside the trigger.

As the adepts communed with the ancient machine spirit, the Magos jerked his head, silently ushering the forces in a new direction. He made his way towards a wall mounted cogitator, three of his many wiry apparati interfacing with the venerable machine. His many eyes danced with information, connecting directly to the ship’s fractured mind, soothing her in the divine reverence of holy binary. Beside him a panel hissed with hydraulic initiation, causing many in the guard to jump at the abrupt sound and movement, but the other tech priests and skitarii remained motionless. Slowly, the wires retreated into Soelok, who placed a humbled hand upon her console.

“Rest, divine mother. Sleep, and dream of the void.”

Power waned from the device, until finally the hum of power coursing through it came to an echoing silence. If he didn’t know better he’d expect the adepts to weep. But of course, grief was a human emotion, and they were too good for those. It was imperfect. Coda wanted to scowl. In a strange way, this display of relative inference sickened him. They bowed in respect, not in anguish. He would never pretend to care about the machines the same way the fanatical tech priests did, but he felt devotion in all the same way. And had he been in a position at all like that, Coda knew he would weep. And he’d be glad for it.

Moving to the exposed access panel, Magos Soelok uttered a quick prayer before removing it, thick wires and circuitry lining the walls. Past were thousands of hydraulic pipes running the length of the floor, Coda could not see the end, though if he had to guess it likely ran at least a kilometer.

“The Omnissiah has truly blessed us, for our Lady _Haevus_ has enlightened the path. We must tread carefully. Even the asylum of these passageways will announce our course to the enemy.”

Through the tunnels they pressed, none daring to make a sound, Marcus finding is incredibly surprising how quiet the mechanical men could be when they wanted to. He knew the skitarii held infiltrators in their ranks, but even the spindly skittering of Soleock’s legs went eerily unheard. Within the dark and damp confines of the vessel, the soft bronze hue of the myriad pipes, Saito and Legless glanced at each other. One step after the other, passed the bolts and conduits.

The sound of ricocheting metal snapped all eyes on Corporal Coda, many taking a breath they hadn’t realized they’d been holding. Every gun immediately took defensive positions, scanning the walls the echos ponding through the undisturbed hallways. Listening for any semblance of a response, the moment slowly died, rifles being lowered hesitantly. Looking down over Klare’s waist he saw the loose wire he’d accidently kicked, nudging it with his foot to the side of the wall. Fowler sighed holding his face in his hand.

“Mind your footing Corporal. You are standing on holy ground.” He whispered.

Coda narrowed his eyes, muttering under his breath. “Be easier if I could see my feet…”

Soelok raised his head. “It appears we are free for moderate communication. I am not detecting any enemy presence in response to the Corporal’s inadequacy.”

He deadpanned. “Glad I can be of service.” He said, readjusting his grip. For the first time since the shuttles landed Coda took a long hard look at the psyker’s face. Whitened skin and hair from her years exposed to the warp made her appear already dead in his arms, a sentiment he did not take lightly. At any moment, she may awaken, her unrestrained warp connection killing them all. Or the Hadex could choose to expand, killing them all. Or the necrons could return, killing them all. Or the unseen enemy could emerge, killing th- you know what maybe Fowler was right, he was being needlessly pessimistic. Each of those things were true, of course, and if they transpired he would likely die before even recognizing that he was in danger. But if that were the case, there was no use dwelling on it. Trust in the Emperor, and he shall deliver. The Emperor protects. He pressed forward with the squad, taking a few steps towards the tech priests leading the unit.

“So, when exactly is she supposed to wake up?”

Soelok turned to face him, yet his appendages did not cease their movement. “With the Machine God smiling upon us, Corporal, preferably when we reach the bridge”

_…You gotta be fucking joking me._

Coda sighed. “And how long will it take to get us there? This ship is massive, we’re moving-“

“Mortals should learn to keep silent in the presence of their betters.” A female tech priest chided, Coda baulking at the remark. To his semi surprise, so did Fowler.

“Arrogance is a very unbecoming trait Paevola” Tallus admonished. “The guardsman is risking his life to serve the Omnissiah. You will grant him the respect he deserves.”

This tech priest, _Paevola_ snorted, which to the militarum sounded like a mechanical whine.

“Somehow his incessant nitpickings have managed to overcome my neurovault emotional suppressants. I suppose I should congratulate you on that. A flaw I will rectify upon our return to the Imperium.”

“…Glad I could… help?” Coda asked, looking around, getting an equally confused stare from the guard.

“You aid us only in keeping our forces from harm, your opinions are not required.”

_All right, don’t like you._

“But they will be addressed.” Soelok abruptly countered. “To answer you, guardsman, by my estimation we will arrive within combat operational distance to the bridge in approximately seven hours twenty-six minutes.”

As Coda gawked Paevola rolled her still human eyes. “Why do you engage in such illogical and unproductive conversation?”

Tallus turned to face her, annunciating with his hands. “Because, dear Paevola, it is our duty and privilege as messengers of the Machine God to spread the word of knowledge to all the ignorant of mankind. Even sharing such slivers of understanding gain his favor, and we must thank the Omnissiah for simple blessings.”

He continued to see Paevola’s deadpan unamused stare.

“Because I find his expression gratifying.”

Paevola scoffed. “I will never understand how you became a Magos.”

“One that outranks you.” Soelok replied casually, continuing forward.

Looking over to the despondent Corporal, Boomer chuckled. “Aye, don’t worry mate. I’ll take her off yer hands for a little while.”

For the first time since landing on this planet, Corporal Coda smiled.

“You sure? Not all of us have mechanical arms…” he jeered, Paevola refusing to entertain his remarks.

In the hours that passed, Coda found the lasrifle in his hands a cold comfort. For three hours Boomer carried the witch, Coda sneaking him a glance every few moments. When the guard stopped to eat some rations, much to Paevola’s contempt, Fowler took after bearing the astropath, not a word escaping his lips for the next two hours. Finally, Coda felt her in his arms again, still struck by how undisturbed she appeared. Had it not been for the whiteness of her skin, her hair, he would guess she was just another imperial citizen. A daughter of an esteemed Imperial family, possibly a Planetary Governor. A child.

“Contact.” Soelok muttered, the four guardsmen surrounding him springing to attention, but the Mechanicus agents seemed almost curious. “Look.” He pointed to an opening between two of the pipes along the wall.

What they witnessed next was beyond anything Coda had expected. A _massive_ storage chamber, in size and scale that he could not well conceive. Lining the walls and the thousands of ceiling spanning shelves systematically erected throughout the grand hall were machines. Millions of machines. Vaguely humanoid wardroids, the likes of which none amongst the Imperialists had ever seen before. Coda found his words dying in his throat.

“What the hell are those? Necrons?”

“Why would Necrons be transported on a colony ship?”

“Certainly not like any Necron I’ve read about.”

“The Necrons weren’t awake in the Great Crusade, idiot.”

“Maybe an automized security force? To keep developing colonies safe?”

The guardsmen argued amongst themselves, while the members of the Mechanicus simply stared in growing anxiety. Coda’s silver eyes fixated on their design, their numbers. The wheels and cogs turning in his mind.

“Maybe we should wake them up.”

The entire party turned to look at him with rampant disbelief. Had be not been holding the astropath he felt sure the one known as Paevola would have shot him dead on the spot.

“They’re obviously of human design if this ship was carrying so many. If they act as the _Haevus_ ’s security force it explains why they lost control of the ship. If we use them to our advantage they may just do our job for us, and carve a path straight through our enemies to the bridge.”

The guardsmen looked at each other in reluctant contemplation, while the tech priests looked like they wanted to send what remained of him to the invaders as a welcome present.

All speculation and calculation ceased with the simple, calm expression.

“No.”

All eyes turned towards Magos Soelok, who stared at the ground in deference.

“I think not. It it within our best interest not to disturb them.”

Feeling brave, Coda asked one simple word. “Why?”

Tallus remained uncharacteristically quiet for a moment. “We cannot trust them. We are moving on.”

Without another word the skitarii and adepts continued fourth, with the guardsmen reluctantly trailing behind. Coda’s resolve remained unwavering. “So we can’t trust the death machines designed by the pinnacle of mankind’s greatness but we can trust her? The psyker witch liable to kill us all? Why in the Emperor’s name have we even brought her here!?”

Paevola spun on a dime, raising a laspistol to his face. “I will not allow your blighted tongue to desecrate this holy place!” before suddenly feeling the cold metal of a laspistol on her own head. Turning, she faced the indifferent Magos Soelok, his mechadendrite inches from her vulnerable skull.

What followed was a series of static pulses and vox chatter, both adepts eventually lowering their sidearms. Paevola glared at the Corporal, but said nothing, and silently marched forward.

Ceding point to his lieutenant, Tallus walked alongside Coda, the clicking of his legs becoming naturaized after all this time. He swallowed, not sure how to address the Magos directly. “You, uh… thank you. Lord Magos. If I may, what did you say to her?”

Tallus did not turn to look, but Coda knew he had his attention. “I simply reminded Sub-Domina Paevola that the average auditorily perceptible round of a nonsupressed laspistol remains at 472.84 meters over open terrain, and given the composition and angles of the structures surrounding us, I suspect it could reverberate much farther.” He said with a hint of… amusement? This tech priest just kept getting stranger.

“Assurement. Corporal, it is with my understanding that our overall operational effectiveness will improve if I were to dissuade your ailing doubts regarding the circumstances of our mission. It would not be incorrect to say that the fate of the imperium itself rests upon our shoulders.” He spoke slowly, finally taking the time to look Coda in the eye, his myriad green optical lenses somehow appearing less foreboding than they once were. “It was the Lady Klare who discerned our original communication with the captain of this ship, the coordinates of the system, and the gravity of exactly what had graced our presence in realspace. However, based on the contents of the report, logic would dictate that the message was sent by the captain of the Haevus himself, and not the shipboard astropath.”

Observing Coda’s obvious incomprehension, he continued. “This implies one of two things. Either the astropaths of the ancient past functioned radically differently to our own, which is highly likely, or the captain was the astropath, of which seems the most likely. If the captain of the Haevus was truly a psyker, them our operation has become far more difficult, and the Lady Klare’s presence even more vital. A psyker from an age before the Emperor would have no means of defense against the perils of the warp today. It is miraculous he survived long enough to send the message out at all, and I strongly suspect that connecting to the warp to send it may have been the last thing the good captain ever did. With such little information, we are at a loss on several fronts. A psyker such as Lady Klare may be the only ones capable of accessing the STC aboard command bridge. Or in the event of the captain’s death, access may only be granted to the proceeding hierarchy of the crew. But these are only some of our concerns.” He said with a low voice, his full attention now turned towards Marcus.

“She is also our last possibility of survival should the Hadex expand to consume this system.”

Coda’s eyes shifted nervously towards the unconscious girl still laying unmoving in his arms.

“Explanation. In the event of a Hadex expansion, which could happen at any moment, the warpstorms will devastate this planet. Time will cease to be, it may play forwards or backwards, or stop entirely as the Hadex ring maintains. The immaterium will rage across its surface, though it would only be a moment in their present until it recedes, and the world released from its grasp. It may be decades or millennia before the Hadex subsides enough for time to resume. But an intact STC is worth it. It is worth any price. It is worth remaining frozen in time for another 40,000 years if it means returning mankind to its once former glory. We must succeed. We _will_ succeed. There can be no chances taken. The Omnissiah watches over us Corporal. The Emperor protects.”

Guardsman Corporal Marcus Valorus Dimazzi Stael Coda swallowed.

“The Emperor protects.”

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

“By the throne…”

After hours of trekking through the pipes and veins of the venerable starship, Soelok finally announced they had reached their destination. Or rather, as close as they could achieve before returning to the confines of the ship’s corridors. The tech priests with their heads bowed in prayer, Fowler giving a quiet praise to the Emperor, Tallus opened the panel back inside the ship.

What they saw were horrors beyond description or comprehension.

The viscera dripped from the ceiling in large beads of blood and shit. Corporal Coda and the rest of the guard gagged on the thick fumes as they slogged through discarded entrails. Any semblance of recognizable bodies were mangled beyond belief, their deranged bloodshot eyes displaying every slice of pain they felt in their final moments.

Coda actually considered equipping a rebreather as they made their way through the soaked hallways, but his hands were occupied, and he dare not breathe a word in this haunted place.

The priests were in constant prayer, though they spoke in only lingua technis, and at such a whisper one could be forgiven for believing it only to be the background of the ship itself. Any sanctity this place once held had been desecrated beyond belief, and had he the capability Coda would be clutching the aquila pendant he carried in his cargo pocket.

The tone had changed completely. Where once they had cowered, crawling through the ducts and scaffolds like rats, a blazing hatred now empowered the guard. With lasguns raised and ready they stood besides the zealous skitarii, primed to shred the enemies of mankind wherever they reared their ugly heads. No xenos nor warpspawn could stand before the light of the Emperor, for his radiance was unfathomable, his rage eternal, and he would have his revenge. Blood paid for blood spilt, delivered through the vessels of his inexhaustible armies.

So would be the fate of the pair of unsuspecting xenos at the turn of the corner, recognition barely registering in their eyes before they were turned to cauterized holes, hundreds of lasbolts reducing their bodies to charred meat lumps that joined the gore piles surrounding them.00

As the whine of the capacitors waned, rumbling could be heard throughout the ship, Magos Soelok growing ecstatic as they made their relentless advance through the corridors. “Absolutely wonderful data. Drukhari. We never should have been able to have taken the dark eldar by surprise, their senses and processing speed should have certified our position long before we approached them. Their minds are addled, their reaction time slowed. Almost certainly derived from their proximity to the Hadex, likely exhibiting piracy in this sector for at least several decades for such prevalent complications. Meaning-!“ he shouted as the acquired lasrifle in his hands shredded a drukhari pirate while his sutured mechadendrite decapitated another, “-we can outmaneuver them.”

“Great! Now how the fuck do we kill them!?” Fowler screamed, the eldar falling easily enough to lasfire yet never seeming to suffer a dent in their numbers nor their aggression. The tight corridors did wonders for creating killzone bottlenecks, of which the lethal precision of the skitarii and the unrelenting tenacity of the guard took full advantage. Suddenly Boomer stepped passed him, slinging his melta forward, and held the trigger. The putrid nauseating stench of crackling eldar almost drowned out their deafening screams.

Each guardsman and admech holding a weapon gripped it focused at the ready as the cries began to die. Seeing no immediate reinforcements, the squad and fireteam took a moment to breath, calibrate and reload.

“Well that worked.”

The Sergeant rolled his eye and glanced at Coda, still happy to be alive. “And we really appreciated your help Corporal.”

“Oh don’t even fucking start with me Fowler, you wanna hold the body?” Marcus replied, holding her out in invitation to take her. Fowler only breathed deeply and made his way down the next corridor with the rest of the boarding party.

_Thought so._

They made their way to a large door, opening to a grand hallway. Massive ornate pillars erected through the hall supported the incalculable exquisitry of the architecture within. Under different circumstances Marcus may have appreciated the flawless engineering design and ethereal artwork, but at the moment he was simply thankful the room was clear of eldar. While the Imperial’s vigilance never wavered, they crossed the room cautiously, Magos Soelok staring down the massive egress on the far side of the room.

“There.” He said, the voice on his voxphone cracking. “The fate of the Imperium… rests behind those doors.”

Considering whether he should say the words that came to mind, Coda reluctantly spoke up. “Lord Magos. I dare not take away from your moment of victory, but even if the STC is in that room… there’s no guarantee it survived the crash. It may still prove an invaluable boon to the Imperium, but it may not be what you’re looking for.”

The Magos was silent for several moments, before finally sighing, which to Coda sounded a bit like the Thunderhawk’s ramp being lowered. “I know Guardsman. In truth, even now our operational success probability has climbed to 9.83 percent.”

At that, Coda actually laughed in spite of himself. “You couldn’t have told us that on the _Woelight_?”

The tech priest looked at him with placating ‘eyes’. “Before landing on the surface of this planet, our operational success probability was 0.27 percent. Logic would dictate your fireteam’s operational effectiveness would decrease drastically if exposed to this information.”

“Logic would be right.” Saito muttered, but kept to himself. Soelok turned to address the boarding party.

“The next few minutes may very well be the most important of your lives. I will attempt to interface with the command console and contact the great Lady _Haevus_. We must prepare for the eventuality that such a forced attempt at intrusion will not go unnoticed, and we cannot return by the means of which we came. Without the elements of stealth or surprise, the drukhari would overwhelm us inside the tunnels. Once I have acquired the STC, I will use the _Haevus’s_ communications system to signal a Thunderhawk to rendezvous with us on the roof of the bridge. No matter what happens, no matter what horrors you witness nor what becomes of you or your crewmates, the STC _must_ be returned to the imperium intact. No other directives apply.”

The party glanced at each other, everyone trying to find some hint of hesitation in any of them, and finding none. Not even in Coda.

“Lord Magos, if I may.” Marcus began, “We still have a pack of breaching charges. If we know they’re coming, why not use them on the pillars in this room? Bring the whole ceiling down on the-“

“Blasphemy!” Paevola shouted, her bright blue eyes glaring at Coda. “You will not desecrate the sanctity of the Lady _Haevus_ -“

“Sub Domina, engage your emotional suppressants at once.” Soelok chided. “You only lower yourself when engaging in illogical altercation.”

Paevola sneered, “From the very beginning he has inhibited our operational effectiveness. There is no logical justification to allow him to remain alive to impede us further.”

“Directive. As your Lord Magos I am ordering you to diverge this method of reasoning.”

“Enough!” Paevola shouted before reaching for her laspistol. “I will not allow him to defile this holy sanctuary or endanger this mission any longer!”

“Sub Domina, withdraw your weapon immediately.” Tallus commanded with an iron voice.

The incensed tech priest glared at Soelok, “Why do you continue defending him? The drukari already know our position. One mo-AAAUGHHH”

Dropping from one of the many pillars closest to the unsuspecting victims, the patient eldar licked his lips as he leapt towards the angry one, the screamy one, the _unfocused_ one. As he clung to her back, thrusting his blade deep beside her neck and down into her chest, he reveled in her screams even as the lasbolt pierced through his skull.

Legless had barely lowered his rifle before Paevola doubled over, yanking the black blade out of her shoulder. As she looked up, the guardsmen and even a few tech priests recoiled in horror. Her eyes were yellowed and bloodshot, the veins along her remaining biological body darkened and spreading. She coughed, a slew of black bile leaking though her voxphone, before Tallus Soelok grabbed her laspistol, and shot her in the head.

Nobody moved save for the skitarii previously under Paevola’s command. No longer linked to her noosphere, they shuddered erratically as the remaining tech priests desperately synchronized their neurovaults to the warriors cybernetics.

“What… the fuck… just happened?” Saito stammered, to which Magos Soelok picked up the discarded drukhari blade, scanning it meticulously.

“Assessment. Lethal xenos toxin.” He said, laying Paevola down, closing her eyes, and resting the blade on her chest with her arms folded across it. ”Highly caustic. Exponentially painful. Engineered so. Do not let it touch you. Could only grant her this small mercy.” He slowly backed away from her body.

“Corporal Coda, please prepare the breaching charges.”

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

The hunger unrelenting, the pain insatiable. The warband leapt through the tunnels their prey had crossed, so tricksy and smart were they. It would not save them.

So many out there, in the wilds, the Mon’Keigh legions so ripe for the tasting. Their anguish would be savored in Her. The dullards hadn’t given a good fight, they screamed like any Mon’Keigh but none had cried in the retribution of the corpselord zealots. Soon they would come, soon they would savor manflesh.

Soon they would feed.

Running and clawing and scraping and tearing forward, he could smell the oil of the metal men. Grimey, whiny, wretched filth. They feel nothing. Agony, no. Rage, no. Pleasure, no. Pain. He would bring them pain. They spat in her eye. He would teach them _fear_.

Bursting through the panel which the Mon’Keigh had passed, the warband bolted through the hallways, climbing over each other if only to have the first chance to engage. Blood and bile coated them as they shoved each other into the viscera, their bloodlust everlasting and insatiable.

It did not take long to reach their quarry, these Mon’Keigh were so stupid. They left their tracks and smells to follow. He bit his tongue for the sweet relieving taste, invigorating him for the slaughter to come. That’s it! He saw her. Lazy Mon’Keigh taking a rest. She would be the first. Cackling on the blood dripping from his lips, he brought his sword down on her chest. Metal. No matter. He sunk his teeth into her neck as he felt the warband climbing over him, stabbing and clawing the dumb Mon’Keigh. He felt a blade pierce through his chest to get to her, his euphoria obliterating the pain. He savored the flavor, relished the fear in her… still… closed… eyes…

They never heard the beeping.

They only heard the fall.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

“Breaching charges detonated!”

Coda yelled above the constant barrage of lasfire, Magos Soelok speaking in unintelligible bursts of lingua technis in a near meditative state of disassociation. All around him was someone firing something at someone else. He thanked the Emperor above these eldar were too stupid and savage to use their foul xenos weaponry, instead rushing them down with blades and claws like rabid animals. The bridge extended like a long hall with a walkway in the center of it, bisecting two descending staircases which Coda could only imagine connected to the rest of the ship. The good news was that by detonating the adjacent room to the command deck, the xenos could only attack them from head on. The bad news was that _there were so many fucking xenos._ If Soelok’s security violations didn’t tell the xenos where they were, the breaching charges _definitely_ did. The walls were almost entirely viewports, and from his position Coda could almost make out the encamped legion of the 224th on the surface below. No doubt they could see the lightshow from their cozy little trenches taking pot shots at the single digit necron warriors that advanced on them. He smirked as he downed another fifteen or so drukhari with automatic fire.

“You know, now would be a REALLY good time for that girl to wake up!”

Not that he particularly cared if anyone listened to him, though he was beginning to admire the iconic glare that Fowler shot him every time he opened his mouth. At the moment, Lady Klare rested on the hard floor beside the Magos, it seemed callous at first but the alternative was not having an additional lasrifle to face the horde. At long last, Marcus personally laid waste to the filthy fucking xenos who had desecrated this ship. Slaughtered its crew. Butchered them.

This was holy retribution.

Technically these humans did not know of the Emperor’s light, and technically that made them heretics. But such a distinction seemed so trivial now. He’d seen what the eldar had done to these people. No matter which way the ecclesiarchy tried to swing it these were humans suffering under the oppression of xenos. They would be avenged.

“HOW’S IT COMING SOELOK!?”

The Magos of course did not answer him, as he was deep in conversation with the machine spirit. Another Skitarii was nicked by one of those deamonic blades, and he fell to the floor in mechanical screaming before the xenos cut his head off. Emperor damn them, they were losing ground too quickly. He didn’t know how much longer only eighteen lasguns, a longlas and a melta could hold out, and spent capacitors were being ejected faster than he could keep track of. He didn’t know-

“I’VE GOT IT!” Soelok shouted, disconnecting from the interface. Glancing over Coda could only briefly make out a… massive ensemble of information compiling into a strange, cube like storage structure.

“WE JUST NEED TO HOLD THEM OFF! THE THUNDERHALK IS ON ITS WAY, WE JUST NEED TO PROTECT THE HAEVUS FOR-“

Tallus Soelok stopped dead in his tracks, and Coda knew why. An overwhelmingly blinding orange light radiated through the viewports, the drukhari barely acknowledging It as they took advantage of their preys distraction, cutting down skitarii and tech priests as they made their advance. Saito barely had time to scream before his throat was sliced clean through.

“No… No NO **NO!** ”

Desperately trying and failing to engage his neurovault quarantine procedures, Tallus could only stare at the viewports in unrelenting terror.

Yelling at the top of his lungs as his lasrifle poured endless rounds into the horde, Fowler mentally gave a prayer to the Emperor, thanking him for the honorable death he would soon receive and how he would march boldly beside him into the immortal conquest.

That was until his lasgun ejected its last capacitor. Seizing its prey, a drukhari made a mad dash towards the Sergeant, her arm slashing furiously towards the venerable man. Its stained blade was still swinging as it was blown of its weilder by the boltpistol Fowler drew from within his jacket. He staggered back, eldar guts paining him, while Coda stepped beside him returning waves of lasfire into the xenos swarm. The only thing he could see were the flames of Boomer’s melta and the piles of drukhari faces drunk with the euphoria of bloodshed piled the floor.

“GUARDSMEN!”

The two men turned towards the Magos, only to be grabbed by the soft firm hands and faced with the blinding brilliance of the eyes of Klare Vaikade.

What happened next was an aberration to an order of magnitude so astronomical that none dare comprehend it.

Coda could feel his head throbbing, taste the blood pooling in his mouth and his teeth skittering as a wave of profane warpborn energy perforated them. He could hear her screaming in his mind, crying to the void, its expanse unperturbed by their insignificance. He endured the weight pulled through him, as if his innards were being sanctimoniously ripped from his guts. Coda could see nothing but endless stars, an eternity in his mind lasting only a fraction of a moment before the only thing he could feel was…

Cold.

Spitting the blood out of his mouth and onto the chilled metal he caught himself on, Marcus took several quick and pained breaths, his eyes darting around him. The drukhari were gone… and so was everyone else. Every _thing_ else. The viewports of the bridge were gone, replace with shining metal walls. A pointed frost filled the air, the room coated in tiny sprouting crystals of ice. Before the Corporal had a moment to process just how freezing he was, a dainty body collapsed into his shoulder.

“Lady Klare!” he exclaimed, holding her to face him.

“By the Emperor…”

Where once her eyes shone with the brilliance of a thousand suns, now only charred craters blackened and leaking biological fluids remained. He held her tight to his chest, prayers repeated to the Master of Mankind.

Suddenly he heard a crash before him, looking up to see Magos Soelok’s mechanical apparatti failing him, his body shaking and falling to the ground. He spoke not a word, but the whine of his mechanical components filling the room, Coda’s eyes widening at the unhinged and deranged erraticism of his movements. His concern only grew when Soelok stopped moving completely.

The static screams were deafening.


	2. Warp Effect 2

**[Author’s Note:** Okay so I got a lot of stuff to address here. I promise you I tried to find the best Cadia equivalent I could, and lo and behold, it was the fucking Turian home system. I shit you not, Palaven is EXACTLY where Cadia is in relation to Holy Terra, the only difference being where in the solar system. You can check me on it, I was NOT anticipating that but fuck it sure now it’s a part of the story.

-other things to be addressed in official reupload- **]**

**,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,**

Commander Shepard. Alliance Navy, Council Spectre, and now apparently Cerberus Operative. She still couldn’t believe just how much had changed. She didn’t like the new title, but Victoria knew she’d have to cede some things to the Illusive Man in order to use the resources at his disposal. Human colonies were disappearing, and the Alliance wasn’t willing or capable of doing anything about it. She was going to have a long conversation with Anderson when she got back to the Citadel, also including the two years of back pay the Alliance now owed her. She wondered if being killed in action had any benefits.

She strode through the corridors, passed the new _SR2_ ’s officers and NCOs of the command deck, the lights and sounds of the ship’s computers bringing back memories of her first day aboard the original _Normandy_. Nearly twice as wide and double the length, it didn’t feel to Shepard like she was briskly walking through the new ship. Rather, she felt as though she were passing through the true _Normandy_ at half the speed, as if wading through a dream.

Despite all the tricks and toys the Illusive Man had outfitted the new _Normandy SR2_ with, it still felt like she’d never left. It may not be flying alliance colors, but it still felt like home. She did happen to account for several quality of life improvements though. Vastly overhauled and upgraded crew’s quarters and amenities, a fully stocked armory she’d had a lovely conversation with Chief Jacob Taylor over, jamming-proof quantum entanglement communications holodeck…

And the _showers…_

She’d spent nearly two full hours under the torrential downpour of the faucet the first time she entered the new captain’s quarters. After two years without so much as a dunk in a river, running shampoo through her flaming red hair bled ages of stress off her. Miranda had taken great care of her body since the start of the Lazarus Project, but nothing beat good old-fashioned water to the face.

She didn’t miss her crowded locker either, or the ‘Requisitions Officer’ selling her third-party weapons and armor on her own goddamn dime. Seriously, who the hell did he think he was, profiting off classified military operations and a bloody war against an army of savage machines and a rogue Spectre? As much as she wanted to see him court martialed, legally is was all on the up and up, as far as Alliance technicality was concerned. And as much as she’d hoped the Council might actually send some effectual equipment to their first human Spectre, Victoria knew she was never that lucky.

But none of that mattered now. Now she had access to a full selection inside her private locker, supplied by a man with perhaps the deepest pockets in citadel space. Victoria narrowed her eyes at that. She knew what the Illusive Man was capable of, and she really didn’t like being in debt to him. He’d saved her life, given her everything. Her ship, her crew, and a mission to complete. She just didn’t know where exactly that mission ended. No matter what happened, she would not become a Cerberus lapdog. Regardless of how much money and resources the Illusive Man threw at her.

Truly, they spared no expense om her or the ship’s design, as the onboard Artificial Intelligence known as EDI was so keenly fond of reminding her. She felt stronger and faster than she’d ever been before, her biotics cranked to eleven. When the mechs first fired upon her within the confines of the Lazarus facility, Victoria only briefly considered the possibility of her still not fully healed stitched-together body ripping itself apart before hurling herself into the fray. She charged, literally _charged,_ into the first automaton, exploding it into several fractured pieces that embedded in the opposite wall. Within the following seconds it took only a few shots from her newfound Predator pistol to disable the rapidly recalculating droids, a brilliant corona of biotic energy defining her outline. She couldn’t do that before. She’d never tasted power like that before. And it was _intoxicating_. Potentially dangerous, but despite the voice in the back of her mind Shepard didn’t care.

She charged through the facility, a great biotic wind wiping out everything in its path. What few survived went down without effort, a few pistol shots to the head were enough to take out the homicidal security droids. It wasn’t until she’d discovered another human being that she’d ceased her assault. Victoria could see the fear on his face, see the brilliance of her power reflected in his eyes, and she stopped. She looked at her hand, her glow dissipating. This wasn’t her. She wasn’t-

Suddenly her ears rang as a bolt deflected off her barrier, aimed dead center for her skull, and she turned to see reinforcing mechs on the balcony to the far side. She dove for cover beside the man, coming to meet Jacob Taylor, First Lieutenant to Operative Director Miranda Lawson. They wiped out the machines, and that’s when she’d learned the truth. About her, about the _Normandy_ and her crew, everything. Two years piecing together a slab of meat and tubes. All to bring her back. To win a war millions of years in the making.

That meeting had hit her like a sledgehammer. It felt like a lifetime ago, though it had only been a few short days. And now here she stood, stepping onto the crew deck, her nose breathing in the sweet colorful smell of home cooking. Passing the wall in front of her Victoria observed the lively crew, the scent of fresh cooking oil and Mess Sergeant Gartner’s creative interpretations of military rations gracing her senses.

She couldn’t help but admit how impressive everything was, top to bottom, the vessel was state of the art. A few additions could be made here and there, Engineer Donnelly had requested a discontinued T6-FBA power coupling before Engineer Daniels had promptly shut him up. Victoria was pleasantly surprised they felt so naturally comfortable in her presence. She’d make sure to get it next time she had the chance. Much of the crew avoided direct eye contact and kept conversations respectfully short. That would change with time. She’d seen it every new deployment, but the fear and hero worship of their new Commander had set herself apart from them. They would learn.

Much of the crew aboard the _Normandy_ was handpicked directly by the Illusive Man, the rest by Miranda in supporting detail. After all the times she fought against Cerberus, all the twisted and mindless research she’d seen them preform, Victoria knew she could never trust the Illusive Man. People like him would sacrifice anything to achieve their goals. And as far as she’d seen of him already, she knew he’d compromise just about anything if it meant getting what Cerberus wants. For now, that meant defeating the Reapers, and for now, that suited her purposes just fine. But she knew in his weird, cybernetic eyes, she was only a means to an end.

At least she could enjoy she ship.

“Oi, Shepard!” Rupert shouted as the crew ceased their meals, not moving a muscle. She smiled warmly. Gartner could be a bullheaded, crass man, but she loved spending time with him. He was one of the few people blatantly unafraid to talk to her. Probably due to having to deal with worth things than her on a daily basis. He pointed a large, sausagey finger passed her towards the medical wing.

“I think there’s someone here who’d like to meet you.”

Victoria turned, and for the second time since waking up, her jaw dropped. In three short steps she opened the med bay doors, too stunned for words in response to the lively eyes and dignified gray hair that faced her.

“Hello Commander.”

Victoria stood in the doorway, motionless for only a moment, before making her way to the woman sitting before her. With few strides she made her way to the Doctor, who herself stood from her seat. In spite of the bewildered eyes of the crew watching just on the other side of the window, they openly embraced each other in a deep and familial hug. Dr. Chakwas held to her tightly, a tear rolling passed her eye.

“Oh, I thought we’d lost you. You cannot imagine how happy I am to see you’re alive.”

Victoria was at a loss for words, though she felt exactly the same. Slowly and hesitantly, both released the other and stood back to face each other.

“I didn’t see you come aboard…” Victoria admitted, it was the only thing to say she could think of. Karin smiled with a solemn happiness etched in her wrinkles.

“I arrived only yesterday, when Joker docked with the station for ‘emergency supply acquisition’. I was waiting for him. When he told me you were alive, that you were flying on the _Normandy_ , I couldn’t imagine a future without you both. When he told me where you were, what you were doing, an opportunity presented itself. As it turns out one of my colleagues had dealings with the Illusive Man, and he pointed me in the right direction to contact him. I refused tenure, packed what few belongings I possess and booked passage far away from Alliance space. I made my way to the Cerberus facility Jeff planned to meet with me. After some discussion with the Man himself, I now humbly offer my services at Chief Medical Officer aboard the _Normandy_.” She said with pride and admiration in her voice.

Victoria was honored, both in the doctor’s commitment and her devotion to her and the _Normandy_ ’s crew. They talked for what felt like hours, Victoria questioning her on her new life, why she abandoned a cushy positions at a respectable institution. Victoria found herself relating fondly to the Doctor’s accounts of life amongst spaceflight. The creek of the engine, the subtle vertigo when the inertial dampeners kick in. It’s a difficult life to walk away from, and an easy one to come back to. The Doctor alleviated her concerns about the new Cerberus colors, as far as either of them were concerned she was here for the Commander, and nothing more. When questioning her feelings regarding her own change of colors, the Doctor only smiled, reassured that her dealings with the Illusive Man would be ethical and their mission uncompromised by his ambitions. It felt nice to have that kind of trust again. 

“Commander, before you leave, would you please take these to Joker for me?” she asked, holding out two white tablets that Victoria took unquestioningly. “It has been so wonderful to see you again. Come by any time, I’d be happy to clear the room for you.” Dr. Chakwas said with a beaming smile and a grandmotherly affection.

“Of course Doctor. I’ll see you soon.” Victoria replied, opening the doors and heading back towards the elevator. Only a single thought passed through her mind as she made her way up to the bridge.

_I am getting that Serrice Ice Brandy._

She strode through the CIC to the command deck, the beautiful blue waves of FTL travel coursing across the myriad windows lining the cockpit. Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau sat leisurely in his chair, likely still admiring the soft cave of the leather seats. He signaled his recognition of her arrival, his eyes still focused keenly on the command console in front of him. Holding out the tablets to him, he nodded as he popped them in his mouth. Victoria recoiled in horror as he effortlessly swallowed the pair without a cup, her own mouth going dry.

“Appreciated Commander. You’ll have to thank the Doc for me.” He said, no apparent discomfort in his voice at all.

Victoria only nodded, massaging her own throat. “Right. I’ll get right on that.”

“Remind me again why we’re flying the most advanced ship in the galaxy to a no name planet in a no name system in the middle of Terminus space?” Joker inquired as his fingers danced along the _Normandy_ ’s stunningly intuitive controls. After two arduous years living on the ground, walking on crutches and sitting in wheelchairs, he could almost kiss The Illusive Man square in the face. If only not for-

_“The_ Normandy _is currently on intercept trajectory for the planet Vorkala, a class II volcanic world located within the Vain system of the Hawking Eta cluster. Discovered by human surveyors possessing dealings with the Cerberus organization, it became quickly established as a prime research and development command center.”_

Joker spun around to address the ship’s captain directly, as well as the shiny blue virtual bouncy ball beside her. “Commander, are you sure we can’t like upload a virus to the mainframe of this thing, or at least put some tape over its bridge cameras? I can feel it watching me.”

_“That would be an immense violation of multiple protocols, Mr. Moreau.”_

Victoria Shepard eyed him with regimented bemusement. “I can’t imagine the Illusive Man taking kindly to you playing with his toys.”

Joker rolled his eyes and swiveled his chair back to command position. “Oh come on Commander, you know a control freak like that’s gotta have a few thousand more hidden cameras all over the place. I just want the ones connected to the Overlord DC’d. Is a little privacy too much to ask?”

_“Maintaining crew viability and productivity_ is _one of my primary directives, Mr. Moreau.”_

Joker sighed under his breath, “Yeah well until you find someone else to tell how to do their job, you’ll find my _productivity_ somewhat lacking.”

Shaking her head, Victoria simply smirked and crossed her arms.

“So, ‘emergency supply acquisition’, huh?”

Joker huffed, a smile cracking his lips. “Can’t get anything past you, huh Commander?”

“I should’ve known. With the Illusive Man fitting the bill they’d have let you requisition just about anything from this nice cozy chair.”

The pilot rolled his eyes and continued typing away at the holographic interface. “Yeah well, sue me for trying to surprise you.”

Victoria turned towards the spherical display beside them, who’d been uncharacteristically quiet during their conversation. Maybe Joker was right about it listening.

“EDI, what do we know about the research the scientists at this facility were doing, and the projects they were working on?” 

_“Apologies Commander. Much of the information regarding the operational directives and resource allocation within the Omicron facility remains inaccessible, however relevant documents have been declassified and were forwarded to Operator Lawson. These manifests contained several staffing records and requisition orders encompassing the last several months. Amongst them stood accomplished astrophysicists, one of whom according to official Alliance records had been declared dead for nearly seven years._

_We do know the primary objective of Omicron Station was the discovery and effective development of alternative applications to mass effect technology. As it stands, element zero hosts an abundance of functions and utilizations across galactic life, and we have still only scratched the surface of what is theoretically possible. The physical and chemical properties element zero possesses makes it a prime subject of study in several fields, most notably biotics and enabling faster than light capabilities. However, neither were within the operational bounds of the Omicron facility’s charter, therefore the cause and method of the station’s violent decommission may only be evaluated within the bounds of speculation.”_

Victoria narrowed her eyes. “All this eezo in the middle of the Terminus systems and you’re saying nobody took notice?”

EDI’s holographic display brightened in response. _“You must remember, Commander, that biotics such as yourself naturally produce trace emissions of element zero, and relatively low readings are often ignored by pirates and mercenaries as a result. However, by the records indicated through the requisitions manifest, the researchers at Omicron were certainly in possession of more than enough to draw unwarranted attention should anyone investigate the system. Cerberus compensated the surveying discovery team well, but it is impossible to know if the information was sold to any additional parties. This is precisely why the planet Vorkala was chosen for the location of this operation. The thermal and radiological emissions of the developing planet was found to be an optimal location for masking the presence of large quantities of element zero.”_

Victoria remained on edge. “So if they’re not designing drive cores or biotic implants, what could they be building down there?”

_“Without further information, I can only provide conjuncture. However, the already existent applications of mass effect technology exceed far into military, industrial, and civilian life. Recently, Ariake Technologies released the Cision Pro Mk. IV, a civilian sector toothbrush that uses mass effect fields to break up plaque and massage the gums. However, I do not consider a toothbrush efficient enough to eliminate over five hundred human lives within the allotted timeframe.”_

Victoria and Jeff both looked at her display with eyebrows raised and mouths ajar.

_“That was a joke.”_

Joker scoffed, stifling a laugh.

“How about that? Didn’t know machines could make jokes. Hey, why don’t you hit me with your best Charlie Chaplain impersonation?” he said, eyeing Victoria’s disapproving stare.

“EDI, Please continue.”

_“Very well Shepard. Specifying on hypothetical applications for element zero, it is theoretically possible that by utilizing the element’s properties of mass manipulation, atoms with truly zero or potentially even negative mass could be created, rather than the infinitesimal fraction that enables faster than light acceleration. Atoms of this nature would therefore be theoretically capable of bypassing or outright breaking the equations of natural physics. Discovering potential exploits in the fundamental laws of the universe may possess an untold number of applications, none of which I currently possess enough data on to extrapolate potential threats to the_ Normandy _or its crew.”_

Joker sighed heavily, “Right, cause all we need right now is a bunch of crazy scientists with Einstein weapons that can fold the ship in half.”

_“Correction, Mr. Moreau. This facility was never intended nor designed for weapons development or production. Our primary objective is discovering exactly what the source of such massive casualties could be, and if it remains a threat to operational staff.”_

“Yeah, all three of them.” Joker said rather callously. “And if it is, we’ll be right there to say hi. That is of course if you want to spend the next few hours searching through piles of rubble. It’s amazing they’ve even survived this long with half the compound probably burying them alive.”

_“Negative, Flight Lieutenant. Remarkably, the Omicron facility itself remains structurally undamaged. This only deepens the inconsistencies, as it does not rationally follow that any event capable of such circumstances would leave survivors. The only operational hazard Omicron station currently faces is that it is suffering from a severe lack of power. Theorizing the preceding cause behind all these events in tandem is currently beyond my comprehensive abilities, and it had fallen to the Commander to fill in the informational gaps. Commander, I heavily recommend convening with Operator Lawson regarding the files declassified by the Illusive Man. They may shed more light on this operation than I am able to provide.”_

“Then that’s where I’m headed.” Victoria responded. Saying her goodbyes to Joker and passing Yeoman Kelly Chambers, who reminded her she had unread messages at her private terminal, Shepard made her way back to the crew’s quarters. This time taking a right she headed to the XO’s office, the door opening before she even had a moment to knock.

“Hello Commander. EDI told me you were coming. What can I do for you?”

“What can you tell me about this facility we’re going to, Omicron station?”

Miranda pursed her lips together and placed her shoulders on the table.

“Not much EDI hasn’t already told you, they keep their records surprisingly tight, even for us. I do have a few things though.” she continued, holding out a datapad for Shepard to read. Scrutinizing the content of the information packet, Victoria’s eyes narrowed again.

“What was the Illusive Man doing here Miranda?”

“Would you believe me if I said I didn’t know?” she conceded, standing up from the chair at her desk. “You need to understand how Cerberus operates Shepard. One of the many ways we avoid getting bogged down in bureaucracy is by staying out of each other’s way. Project Lazarus was just one cell within Cerberus, one of hundreds, possibly thousands. Only the Illusive Man himself knows for sure. Each cell has its own backers, its own funding, nearly all of it privatized. We so rarely work with one another than many of us fail to recognize the others’ existence. All of that said, _everything_ goes back to the Illusive Man, and he forwarded me what he could about the facility before they went dark. It’s not irregular for cells to go weeks, some even a month without reporting in for a number of reasons, so whatever happened may be seven hours or seven days old. All we know is that those seven hours ago the Illusive Man received a message from the facility’s onboard VI informing him of the catastrophe.”

“Then why don’t we just go ask him what’s going on?” Victoria inquired with rising impatience, Miranda shooting her a glare.

“We wouldn’t be on this mission if he knew.” she curtly replied. “He gave them an objective and they completed it. We just need to find out how and why.”

“You’re saying this is the scientists’ fault?” she asked, unsurprised but not expected.

“I don’t see any other way to get a casualty count like that. Can’t be geological, the facility is undisturbed. Could possibly be a massive solar flare, which would also account for the critical power failure, but they should have had safeguards and warning systems established to give them plenty of time to evacuate before it hit. Pathogens, even engineered ones, spread too slow to kill so many in a week. Mass effect technology can be dangerous Shepard. The first few test subjects ever exposed to it got spaghettified with gravity spikes. We’re treading through uncharted water here, and I’m willing to bet it bit them in the ass.”

Victoria slowly nodded her head, processing the information. “Alright. Tell me about the files. What were they working on and who was working on them?”

“Nothing incriminating I’m afraid. I found a few blueprints for fairly innocuous things. There was one design for a hydroponics lab that would somehow be able to grow plants at an inconceivably fast rate, though the mechanism for somehow enabling this isn’t listed. The only thing of significant budgetary importance was this design here.” she said, forwarding the schematics to Shepard’s datapad. “Apparently nearly fourty percent of all of their resources went into this project, a form of modified prototype drive core.”

“EDI said they weren’t building FTL drive cores.” Shepard remarked hesitantly, to which Miranda shook her head.

“It’s not FTL, or if it is its unlike any I’ve ever seen. For one, it’s completely stationary, practically welded to the foundation of the facility itself. It was never designed to leave the station, let alone fly. I’m not a technician, but this strikes me as something different, not unlike the conduit you found on Ilos.”

“You think they were building a mass relay?” she asked in surprise. Suddenly the loudspeaker in Miranda’s office caught them off guard.

**“Bridge to XO, I hate to cut your peptalk short guys but we’ll be hitting observable range for Vorkala in about sixty seconds, just thought you might wanna take your conversation to the shuttle bay.”**

Miranda looked back at Victoria, “I don’t know what to think Shepard. We’ll find out soon enough.”

Victoria breathed out a sigh, conceding she wasn’t going to get any more relevant information till they actually got planetside. “Alright. One last thing. EDI said you read the staffing records. Anyone I should know about?”

“Just one.” Miranda replied. “Operative Director Wesley Asimov, the man in charge of Omicron. He died nearly seven years ago in a skycar accident above Ilium. He’s been working for us ever since. The man is absolutely brilliant, held six PhDs during his tenure before they were revoked. He specialized in stabilizing superheavy elements, in that way it’s actually a bit ironic he came to work with eezo. It’s highly unlikely we’ll find him alive, but on the off chance he’s down there he’d know more about the station’s operations than anyone.”

To their surprise the overhead speaker came to life once again, with a much less leisurely Joker on the other side.

**_“Approaching destination coordinates.”_ **

**“Uh… Commander…? Scratch that shuttle bay suggestion. You might want to come and see this…”**

Headed out the doors and up to the CIC, Victoria briefly looked towards Miranda with a wry smile. “Been meaning to say. You improved the elevators.”

Miranda smirked. “We improved a lot of things.”

All eyes turned towards the two ranking officers as they made their way to the distressed helmsman.

“Hit me Joker, what’s the situ… ation…”

Staring out the window, it was impossible for any of them to miss. Under normal circumstances, Victoria could imagine the planet as unremarkable, a glowing red marble that gave her hair a run for its money in an otherwise docile class F star system. Young and vibrant, possibly one day in the grim dark future supporting life of its own.

What drew their attention was the massive blackened landmass covering the planet’s surface. With all the volcanic activity surrounding it, the Pangea-esc structure was completely out of place. But even that was far from the most concerning thing about the image. At the center of the landmass, she could see a smaller, snow white outcropping, in obvious contrast with its surroundings. As Joker pulled the ship in closer, she could tell she’d been right on the mark. It was one thing to witness a frozen pole amongst an otherwise molten planet.

_It was another for it to be on its equator._

All three stared out the viewport in equal mix of wonderment and dread, Miranda swallowing hard.

“Just what the hell where these people _doing_ down there…?”

Shepard shook her head. Miranda was asking the wrong question.

“And how did anyone survive it?”

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Coda immediately felt his words die in his throat as he witnessed the disfigured face of Lady Klare. Laying the astropath out on the floor, her spasms suddenly subsided, now eerily still. In a wave of intuition, he frantically pushed repeatedly against her chest in what he had heard were called ‘pressions’, his form erratic and his technique inexperienced.

“MAGOS! SERGEANT!” he shouted desperately, “Help me! She’s not breathing!”

The synthesized shrieking ceased, and he looked up to see the now resolute tech priest saunter towards him, the mechanical clicks of his spindly legs echoing through the room. Unspeaking, unwavering, the vaunted Magos raised a single pointed mechadendrite and pierced the Lady Klare’s neck. Coda was horrified, raising his lasrifle against the adept, when suddenly a deep and sudden breath rang out from the psyker’s lips before slipping back into unconsciousness.

Coda steadied his breathing, lowing his weapon cautiously. “What the hell did you do?”

“Emergency measures.” Soelok replied, his voice unusually cold and devoid of emotion. Well, unusual for him anyway. Finally starting to act the part of the tech priest. “She will live. The injections will not last eternally. We must secure her safety if we intend on escaping this place and returning to secure the STC. You have more pressing concerns to attend to.” his voxphone emulated, Coda following his gaze over his shoulder.

“FOWLER!”

Coda bolted to the slumped body of the Sergeant, his breathing thin and his eye sullen. Narrow branching lines peaked out over the collar of his bloodstained jacket lining the base of his neck. Coda immediately ripped open his uniform, his fears coming to pass. There, lacerated from his heart to his opposite thigh, was a sickeningly blackened wound. It cut deep and disfiguring as its thick fetor spread across his body, black blood pouring from the incision and the cracks of his mouth. A pained, bloodshot eye and weak optical lens stared up at him, but there was a tiredness and finality about them that Marcus refused to accept.

Exasperated, Marcus looked back towards the tech priest, motionless and uncaring.

“HELP HIM DAMNIT!” Marcus screamed, no longer concealing his agitations towards the Magos, “Inject him, heal him, do whatever you need to. By the Emperor save him _you fucking machine!_ ” he cried, no longer caring for his words or even listening to himself. Tallus simply stood in quiet disposition.

“Resignation. It will do nothing to slow the infection. Only one option remains, Guardsman.”

Coda stared in shock and rage at the callous Magos, his voice breaking up. “You… you fucking traitor… HE SAVED YOUR LIFE! THAT WOULD BE YOU IF IT WASN’T FOR HIM! CURE HIM!”

The Magos shook his head. “I cannot. No cure exists. I could not save my lieutenant. I cannot save him. You are lashing out in emotion, driven by grief. You know what must be done.”

Coda looked back at the ailing guardsman, tears welling up in his eyes. Soelok cautiously approached him. He punched the cold hard metal floor. He hated the Magos. He hated how right he was. He hated what needed to be done.

“Sub Domina Paevola was my charge, my responsibility. A comrade in arms is yours. You must choose.”

He looked into Fowler’s pleading eye, yellowed and bloodshot as Paevola’s were. He didn’t even seem to bleed anymore, merely choking bile escaping his orifices. Coda looked away, but drew his lasrifle…

With the last of his strength and a pained gasp, Fowler knocked the barrel away, Coda opening his eyes in bewilderment. It wasn’t until he saw Fowler’s open metal palm that he understood. A swift death was not what he was begging for. Slowly, holding back choking tears, Coda sat next to the expiring Sergeant, and held his hand.

He could see Fowler’s cybernetic eye scan downward, verifying that there was in fact another guardsman’s hand in his own, and Coda felt his body ease. It was not long before Sargent Virgil Fowler took his last breath. It was very long before Marcus summoned the strength to let him go.

With one hand he closed Sergeant Fowler’s remaining eye, deep in prayer for his soul marching beside the Emperor in the immortal conquest. With shaking legs he rose to his feet, gripping his lasrifle with renewed determination.

“Recognition. The Sergeant must have been in immeasurable pain. The indomitability of the guard continues to surprise me.” he heard the hiss from Soelok’s voxphone come to life. “The Omnissiah watches over him now.”

“Why did you make me do that?” Coda seethed with anger and misunderstanding, “You could’ve just ended it. Quick, easy, painless…”

“You would never have accepted it, Guardsman. You required the finality and conviction that the consequences were the result of the choices you made, not what another made for you.”

Coda breathed deeply, standing above the man he once hated.

_He’s right._

“Urgency. Corporal, it is imperative that we discern our current point of origin and discover means of passage to the nearest Imperial outpost. This position presents hazards to you and Lady Klare. The ambient temperature will keep her alive for an extended period of time. It will also kill her, and eventually you, should we fail to secure our situation.”

Coda nodded grimly. He could feel the frost getting to him, and he was _not_ losing another member of his squad. No matter how weird and freakish she might be.

Slinging his rifle over his back, he made his way to the astropath. Still a visage of terror and stripped innocence, he could see tiny crystals of ice forming at the base of her hair and what little of her eyebrows that hadn’t been singed off. Scuffing his thin beard, he could feel his own frost forming. Taking a deep breath, he slowly drew the strength to pick her up.

“Guardsman, she is momentarily stabilized in this room. We can return to secure her once we have secured ourselves.”

Marcus hoisted her into his arms, turning to face the apprehensive tech priest. “Lord Magos, we have absolutely no idea what’s out there, and I’m not letting her out of my sight. There could be drukhari that followed us here. We may find our way out and return to find a xenos raping her corpse. You told me she may be our only chance at survival. I carried her this far. I can carry her a little more. She stays with us.”

His tenacity surprised even him, and the Magos seemed to agree.

“Acceptable logic. The astropath will accompany us…” he muttered, nodding his head. Suddenly he perked up. “Guardsman Corporal Marcus Valorus Dimazzi Stael Coda, you are charged with the staving of bodily hard from myself and the astropath of the _Woelight._ Until contact has been reestablished with the Imperium, your charge will remain. Do you accept the charge?”

Marcus knew there was no declining orders given directly from a ranking superior, even if they were of two different institutions. Nevertheless, he nodded his head in resolution.

“Yes.”

“Resignation accepted. Corporal Coda, please standby. I will attempt to breach the door.”

For the first time since arriving in this strange, freezing place, Coda took a moment to take in his surroundings. They existed in an almost barren cylindrical room lined with steel walls and a white flooring. There existed only one door, a decent chokepoint if they required it, which Soelok was currently attempting to weld through. Fowler’s corpse stained the wall to his left, and Marcus shuddered at the thought that the Sergeant may provide his only source of warmth should they not escape this place. The only thing that provided any sense of remarkability was a large metal ring about three meters below the ceiling. It did not move, though Coda could not tell if it intended to, as it was locked into the walls through support beams. He felt immense unease towards the structure, scrutinizing it for any culpability in their arrival, but fount none. None that he could see, anyway. He felt he was going to gag on the smell of Fowler’s festering wounds when Soelok cried out in success, and they had their first chance to see outside their stagnating icebox.

Coda nearly dropped Lady Klare.

Humans. They were humans, though none ordaining the Imperial Aquila, or any other recognizable insignia as far as Marcus knew. They sat around their cogitators, some angry, some dispassionate, some with smiles on their faces. All of them were dead.

_“By the Emperor…”_

Coda swallowed hard, a deep breath that followed forming a crisp cloud of frost from his lips.

“What… What is this place? Are these the _Haevus_ ’s crew?”

Soelok’s reply was swift and firm. “Negative, Guardsman. We are not currently aboard a starship of any kind. There are no bulkheads. No pressure doors for vacuum exposure. We are within a planetary compound of some variety from Imperial standards, implying we have traversed a great distance. I will need to properly observe the astrological bodies to discern our exact galactic coordinates.”

Marcus felt his breath quickening, “What about the mission? The _Haevus_?”

Magos Soelok was quiet for several moments before his vox synthesizer cracked to life. “I have no idea, Guardsman.”

Marcus stared in disbelief. That may have been the first time a Mechanicus adept ever spoke those words. “We must acquire more data to preserve our survival, and it is imperative we stabilize Lady Klare’s condition if there is any hope of recovering the STC, and preserving the soldiers present at our departure.”

He felt his heart catch in his throat. “Boomer? Legless? We can save them?”

Tallus did not answer him right away, his mind processing the possibilities. His mechanical eyes surveyed the adjacent room. “We will never know unless we get off this station.”

Coda absentmindedly nodded his head, his mind racing. So much didn’t make sense. He knew the psykers were weird, but this was beyond the realm of what he considered possible. Then again, anything was possible when the warp was involved. He knew the worst had come to pass. The Hadex Anomaly flooded the Oloraistos system. In a mad burst of freakish witchcraft, the Lady had brought them here, outside the Hadex’s influence. He just didn’t know where ‘here’ was. The corpses littering the room gave no indication whatsoever to whatever backwater region of space they’d landed themselves.

He certainly did not want to discount the new group as heretics, though the lack of any sign of Imperial emblems or regalia was alarming. They certainly were no agents of the ruinous powers, but they also appeared far too technologically advanced to be counted amongst the possible lost colonies. They wore strange clothes with unrecognizable symbols, curiouser still were their strikingly diverse complexions and body builds. Some he’d blatantly never seen before in his service to the imperium, though none of them stuck him as any form of mutations. Soelok was noticing the same thing.

“…Unexpected data. Compiling.”

Marcus looked at the Mechanicus Lord with blatant contempt and barely hidden disdain. “These are humans. People. Not fucking statistics.”

Tallus cocked his head quizzically. “Clarification. Such circumstantial information is paramount for our survival. The sacrifice of these humans will potentially spare us from sharing their fate.”

Coda rolled his eyes. “Right. Hide behind your fucking analytics.” he sneered, looking into the eyes of a grey haired man in a white coat. In his hand was some kind of portable cogitator, it displayed letters and writing that Coda did not recognize. In his other hand was a ceramic cup filled with some brown material that was frozen solid. The man had sunken but experienced features, and a warm smile crossed the creases of his face. Coda closed his eyes in a quiet prayer before turning back towards the Magos. “Tell him what his sacrifice meant.”

Tallus stood in silent contemplation “Recitation. My neurovaults are returning feelings of anguish, and for the moment I am quarantining them. Once we have secured our operational safety, Guardsman, I will mourn with you.”

Coda scoffed and turned towards the sea of the lost.

_Fuck you... you fucking machine._

Bowing his head in sustained silence, he wept and prayed. For Julius, for Saito, for Fowler. For all the poor Emperor begotten souls that stood before him in this room, never knowing the moment that would be their last.

Drying his eyes with his shoulder, he took one last look around the faces frozen in time, a single thought etched into his mind.

What could’ve done this?

He didn’t have time to think about it, as a sound rang out from the hall on the far side of the room, the Magos grabbing the Corporal’s lasrifle and raising his mechadendrite laspistol. However, no threat emerged, nothing peaked around the corner, the sound simply repeated again. And again. Neither could tell what it was, and both approached slowly and cautiously, the Corporal clutching the astropath as the stood behind the venerated mechanical monstrosity, who at times was easy to forget how lethal his augmentations allowed him to be.

As they rounded the corner the sound bouncing off the walls became more pronounced, more annunciated. It was… a word perhaps?

“Error”

“Error”

“Error”

They were rapidly approaching it now, passing by the gruesome still images of the lively bodies paled and covered in ice, their faces joyous and carefree. It was becoming much louder now, and finally they breached the end of the hallway, omening up into an even bigger room. It was striking, Coda had never seen a facility this clean before. No oil scrubs, no leaking servitors routing the corridors. Everything was pristine and white. Silver metal adorned the architecture, the same two pronged black and orange symbols appearing everywhere they went. Actual, honest to Emperor _plants_ grew in seeming decoration, though now they were wilted and coated in a thick sheet of frost. Everything was perfectly still. Except-

“Error. Error.”

The Magos lowered his rifle immediately and bowed in veneration, Coda not certain if he should follow. Either way he was still holding a body in his arms, dainty and borderline emaciated as she was he wouldn’t be bowing to anyone less than the Emperor himself while he carried her. Nevertheless, the… thing in front of him was striking. It was clearly holographic, rare as they were in the Imperium he knew what they looked like, and even some of the _Haevus_ ’s interfaces had utilized them. Still, even the apotheosis of the ancestor ship didn’t hold a candle to what he witnessed before him, heretical as it sounded for him to say.

What flashed and flickered before them was unbelievably, undeniably, _human_. A holographic human, clearly not a projection or a recording of someone else, but a true individual. It repeated that word over and over, Coda having no idea what it meant, and he was about to ask the Magos for clarification when suddenly the tech priest exploded into a static dialogue of lingua technis.

**+Inquiry / Verification / Machine Spirit?+**

**+Identification / VirtuERROR Virtual Intelligence / Designation: |Valetta|+**

Soelok froze, almost terrified to voice his concern.

**+Virtual Intelligence = A.I.?+**

**+Negative / Nonsentient / Narrow Intelligence+**

**+Virtual Intelligence = Machine Spirit?+**

**+Designation / Identification / MaERROR |Machine Spirit| Acceptable+**

The Magos breathed a sigh of relief, and reinitiated conversation with delighted reverence.

**+Machine Spirit / Designation: |Valetta| / Classification?+**

**+Machine Spirit / DesigERROR Designation: |Valetta| / Informational / Administrative / SurvERROR Surveillant / Operative Director: |Wesley Asimov| / Site: |Omicron Station| / Alignment: |Cerberus|+**

**+Inquiry / Location / Galactic Coordinates+**

**+Vorkala / Vain System / Hawking Eta Cluster+**

Soelok took a step back, which for him was about four steps back. They must be further from the Hadex anomaly than he’d anticipated. He’d never heard of any of those designations, but the good news was that the vaunted machine spirit had recognized the concept of a galaxy spanning society, so hopefully they were not present amongst one of the lost colonies. Hopefully they could return to Imperium space.

**+Inquiry / Imperium-+**

**+Critical Warning / InsuffERROR Insufficient Power / Primary Geothermal Plant: Offline / Auxiliary Geothermal Plant: Offline / ME Drive Accelerator: Offline / Emergency Transmission Linked / Powering Down+**

**+Command! Override / Diagnose / Instruct+**

**+C0MPLY1NG+**

Magos Soelok received an _immense_ datastream directly into his noosphere, likely due to the ‘Virtual Intelligence’ not having the time nor capability of isolating and dissociating the relevant information before running out of power completely. The flickering visage of her form dissipated into nothingness.

“What, did you offend her or something?” he heard Corporal Coda comment behind him. He sighed as he activated his vox synthesizer, and turned to face the man staring him down.

“Negative, Guardsman. She sacrificed her life, Corporal, so that you and I may yet live. It will take me a great deal of time to discern the full extend of what the Lady Valetta has revealed…” she said, his mind racing. Already he was seeing flashes, images that didn’t make sense, words he could not comprehend. They all had one thing in common. The symbol. The mark.

_Cerberus._

“Two legendary machine spirits in one day. That must be a record for you, right?” Coda said with a frosted smile. He could not hide from Soelok’s eyes, his muscles were shaking in micrometers and his core temperature was dropping dangerously. For the moment, the astropath was stabilized, but that could change at any point without a semblance of warning. He needed to get environmental controls back online and operational immediately.

And now…

“Veneration. I have been blessed by the Omnissiah, Corporal, as you have. The machine spirits we have encountered have bestowed their gifts upon us at great costs, their souls crying out. We must not squander it. We will not. Preparations must be made, and the Lady has given me sight. I do not yet understand, but I know what to do.”

Coda ran down the hallway sprinting after the Magos. He couldn’t believe how fast the mechanical being could move with so much technology weighing him down. Then again, he was much nimbler than the average tech priest, especially one of his caliber. His mechadendrites were segmented like coils, his legs razor thin and danced across the floor. Holding the Lady Klare in his arms he followed back to the room they’d first arrived.

The change was immediate. Frantically, the Magos began implementing key commands in a nearby terminal, making Coda raise his eyebrow.

“You could read their language this whole time?”

The Magos barely acknowledged him. “My neurovaults memorized the shape of the characters matching the required string of input the system requires.” His fingers dashed across the keyboard.

Coda stood in silent bafflement.

“Remind me not to open my locker next to you.”

“Noted.” Soelok replied, his eyes still locked to the flickering console. “We do not have much time Guardsman. Please remove Sergeant Fowler.”

Coda didn’t move. “…What?”

“Release the astropath and remove Sergeant Fowler’s body from within the containment shield. He will interrupt the process.”

Coda stared at the Magos bus slowly placed the frail woman on a clear desk at the back of the room. He felt numb, passing Soelok’s indifferent demeanor as he rapidly typed into the console. Slowly, he made his way back into the first room, Fowler’s corpse still unmoving. It was eerie, seeing him like that. It was perhaps the calmest he had ever seen the man. His last moment were spent in agony, but Coda would never have been able to tell. Despite his lifeless eye and slumped body, he looked a sense of peace and understanding the Guardsman had never seen in all his time under the superior officer. He whispered another quiet prayer to the Emperor, and made his way to his old enemy.

He didn’t want to disturb him. It felt sacrilegious. It felt like desecration. But the Magos’ word be done, contemptable as it was. Coda knew he’d join him against the wall if he disobeyed, with the deceptively strong tech priest dragging them both out and discarding them life like maggots. He reached out, placing fowler’s hand in his own, and hoisted him up. Four engagements he’d survived, and he’d never had to move a body. There was either never enough time or not enough left to move. It had weight. He underestimated the force he needed to pick up the slack body of a fully-grown cyborg. His knee bent but he caught himself, slinging Fowler’s arm over his neck. He grabbed it with his opposite hand, and used his free one to hold his chest below the other arm.

Slowly, he trudged out the room, a thick trail of black blood following the late Guardsman. Coda tried to ignore the smell as he made his way passed the Magos, lying Fowler respectfully against the wall besides Klare. One could be mistaken in thinking he was just sleeping, his face showing ho discomfort as Code propped him up. Suddenly there was a clang on the ground beside him, and Coda looked to see the source of the loud bang he’d heard before they’d left. A real boltpistol, sized for human hands. Rare, if the rumors were true. He knew he’d never seen one before, full size or otherwise. But he’d assuredly seen how effective bolters could be during the incursion of Merrik IV. He certainly didn’t know the Sergeant had one in his possession. Reverently, he placed the Sergeant’s metal fingers around the grip, crossing it over his chest. It looked right in his hand.

“It will do more in yours.” He heard, turning to see Tallus standing over him. “A weapon is a timely companion, a weapon forged in blood will never forsake you.” He picked up the boltpistol, Coda wanting to object but staying silent. The Magos brushed his hand against its iron frame, chanting inaudibly. His lenses focused on Coda, before holding the fabled weapon reverently out to him.

Marcus recoiled. “Me? What are you talking about? I can’t take that, that’s practically looting!”

Soelok shook his head. “You mistake me Corporal. The machine spirit has chosen you.”

Coda looked at the weapon skeptically. He still did the rite of cleansing on his lasrifle as every guardsman should, but he’d never felt a connection to it. Obviously the machine spirits existed, the woman he’d just witnessed was proof of that, but he never did trust the Mechanicus’ ravings of proper weapon veneration. It fired all the same. But the Magos was insistent, if not determined. Taking one last look at Fowler’s hollow stare, he hesitantly reached for the weapon.

“It is a great honor.” Tallus asserted, “It will defend you in your darkest moments, and fill the xenos with the Emperor’s light.”

It was heavy, nearly unbearably so, and Coda was certain he’d crack his wrist or dislocate his shoulder if he ever attempted to fire it. That said, should the worst come to pass, a broken arm would be the least of his worries. Staring at the beautifully crafted ornate frame, he narrowed his eyes, and holstered it with renewed determination.

“My darkest moment is going to show up in about two hours unless we find a heat source somewhere.” Marcus quipped with newfound tenacity.

Without a word the Magos oriented one of his many mechadendrites before the guardsman, this one seeming to have a welding contraption at the end. Coda nearly wept in the Emperor’s name as he placed his hands around it, the warmth filling his extremeties.

“Unfortunately Guardsman, this will not sustain your vitality indefinitely. However our permanent solution may come more readily than we had assumed. If the Lady Valetta is correct, we appear to be located on a nursling volcanic planet.”

_That_ news hit Coda like a Leman Russ. “A vol- You’re telling me this whole time we’ve been standing on a molten rock freezing our asses off?” he’d have laughed if he hadn’t been starting to turn blue.

“Affirmative.” The Magos confirmed. Suddenly a wave of unease washed over Coda, and he looked again across the myriad faces of frozen ignorance, a single question dominating the forefront of his mind.

“Just what the hell happened to these people?

Tallus was silent for a moment. Marcus heard a raspy breath intook from his voxphone. “Admission. I’m beginning to extrapolate, Corporal, that we did.”

Coda’s eyes snapped to lock on to the Mechanicus Lord’s optical sensors. “What in the hell are you talking about, tech priest?”

“Interpretation. I am currently processing the information received from Lady Valetta, however alarming consistencies correspond with the timeframe of our arrival. Approximately 81.72 percent of this facility’s energy reserves were directed through the room of our entry point in the moments preceding our arrival . According to my internal chronometers, our advent occurred within 1.15 picoseconds of a recorded entropy spike of unparalleled proportions. Extrapolation. Surmising available data, logic would dictate cause and effect.”

Marcus caught himself stepping back. “Wait… Are you saying…?”

“We killed these people Guardsmen.” Soelok said, coldly and abruptly. “It was our escape from the drukhari and the Hadex anomaly that led to these circumstances.”

Marcus Coda nearly threw up. He stared at his hands, running them across his hair. “We did this. By the Golden Throne, we did this…”

“Do not lose yourself into despair, Guardsman. The Emperor still requires your aid.”

He could feel his mouth go dry. “What, Soelok? What could the Emperor possibly require of us? The mission is lost. The STC is lost. The _Haevus_ is lost. We failed.” He spat out the words. Tallus merely shook his head.

“Refutation. The Emperor saved us. The Haevus remains undisturbed within the Hadex’s grasp. The mission remains the same. It is by His will that we survive, and find a way back to recover the STC. The Lady Klare will return us to our fallen comrades, we will wipe out the xenos filth aboard the ancestor ship, and we will return to the Imperium with the STC intact.” The fervent tech priest affirmed adamantly.

“But we cannot accomplish it from here. I require your assistance in reinitializing the machine.”

Despite himself and the situation, Marcus raised a quizzical eyebrow. “There are easier ways to kill yourself than using the device that killed everyone else.”

Expectedly, Tallus shook his head. “Negative, Guardsman. If the Lady Valetta’s records are correct, this structure acts as a remarkably efficient Gereratorium. One that had been used effectively several times in the past prior to our arrival. Though it utilizes a fuel source I have never encountered before, and I will need you to locate and administer it while I initiate the conversion sequence. With the Omnissiah guiding us, we shall restore this facility to its full potential, and secure our safety in the process”

Coda simply sighed, too exasperated to think at this point. “Right. Whatever. Anything to get out of this damned cold. Give me a job, I’ll get it done, just tell me where I need to go. I’ll leave the death machines to you.”

With the Magos’ newfound instructions, it didn’t take Marcus long to find what he was looking for. He still couldn’t read their throne-accursed writing, but the sighs of “Danger!” and “Don’t Touch!” were universal. Carefully, Coda lifted one of the metal cannisters Soelok had described and walked it back to the operations room. He was surprised it was so easily accessible if it was supposedly so dangerous, but these were humans that willingly or otherwise were ignorant of the Emperor’s light. He could forgive their backwards practices.

At Soelok’s direction, he found and ejected the previously spent fuel canister, and locked the new one into place. What poor, naive soul loaded that last core that’d gotten them all killed, he’d never know. He merely prayed to the Emperor the ruinous powers of the warp were merciful to them. Three small green lights appeared above the fresh core, Coda turning to view the frantically typing Magos.

“Hit it!”

Hastily forming the holy cog in prayer, reciting his benedictions to the machine spirits and the Omnissiah, Magos Soelok pulled the lever. The containment doors sealed shut, the lights above the core ticked down two, one, then all three red. A great noise flooded the compound, louder and louder, Coda eventually covering his ears. It was like something rising our of the water, not quite breaching the surface tension. Suddenly a sound much like a lasgun bolt rang out, Coda instinctively diving for cover, but as it sustained it became clear he was in no danger.

Well, not yet anyway.

Suddenly it was like a star went supernova, there was light everywhere, more holographic projections sparking to life than he’d ever imagined. Cogitators, viewscreens, they all came online in a single beautiful escalade. For the briefest of moments Coda almost understood the Mechanicus’ technological fervor. This was truly a manifested divinity of the Emperor’s will. An image appeared on the wall, which Coda could only describe as a flat hologram, displaying what was very obviously a real time image of the room beyond. A dark purple miasma spasmed and convulsed in the center of the spinning ring, and for a moment Coda was actually afraid it was alive. “What foul fucking sorcery is this?!”

The Magos only stared in unreserved exultation.

“This is the true power of mankind.”

**“POWER RESTORED.”**

The voice, _Valetta_ ’s voice rung out once again, the Magos sprinting down the hall after the vaunted source of information. Marcus sighed and made his way after him, he still couldn’t understand one word of what the machine said but it was certainly better company than an corpse and a witch. He scowled to no one. _Lady Klare_ was lucky she was under his charge to protect, otherwise he may have just killed her himself. Every person on this station, possibly every person on the planet, dead in an instant. He told himself she didn’t know. That it was a freak accident. That is was a miracle by the grace of the Emperor the three of them survived at all, and she was dangerously close to avoiding even that. And yet, still.

They were going to have a very pointed talk when she woke up.

If she woke up, that is. Not that the Corporal was even in position to castigate her, she’d have well been within her rights to personally kill every human here anyways on the lack of flying the Emperor’s flags. That particularly never set right with Coda. Not the disrespect towards the Emperor of course, their souls were still damned for that. But rather the ignorance. It should be their job as guardsmen to teach them, to spread the Emperor’s light to all worthy of humanity. Not to exterminate them.

“Critical operating systems functioning within acceptable parameters. Warning: Facility ambient temperature registering a class I environmental hazard. Cycling HVAC.”

He heard a hissing sound, as if the room itself was breathing. Then he smelled it. Like working in the _Woelight’_ s engine chamber after the Mechanicus adepts applied incense and oils for their rites. Then, he felt it.

Beautiful, blessed bloody _HEAT_.

Coda ran beside one of the openings in the wall, hugging it like a lost family member. He could feel the ice melting off his beard, and he began to laugh in tears. He didn’t realize till that moment just how cold he was. It was in his fingers and his bones. A deep chill that once threatened him held off by the bulwark of whatever this beautiful wall thing was.

“I am impressed, Guardsman.” Soelok affirmed, “Clarification. You would have succumbed to the severe difference in temperature in approximately forty minutes, the Lady Klare even less so. Truly, human persistence is admirable.”

Coda nodded his head absentmindedly, then he narrowed his eyes. “Wait. The heat won’t preserve her. She needs to get to a medicae, now!” He let go of the wall thing, ready to sprint back to the operations room. The Magos raised his hand in trepidation.

“Patience, Guardsman. You are correct, the astropath must be stabilized, but rash actions will only place her in further danger. For the moment, she will live, but the increase in temperature will encourage circulation and metabolization of the injections. We do not have long. Acquire the Lady and bring her to me. I believe there is a location within this facility we can use to secure her.”

Receiving all the permission he required, the Corporal made his way to the desk Klare lay peacefully atop. Carefully, he cautiously brought her back into his arms, and slowly made his way to the center hall. He nearly skid and fell, the melting frost making the cold metal floors slick and slippery.

_Mind your footing Corporal, for you are standing on holy ground._

He still couldn’t see his feet, but this time he stepped with precision, not an inch off his intended path. It did not take long to reach the Magos, only three corridors away, though it took longer than he’d have liked. Together, they made their way through the compound, passing all manner of bizarre and wonderous things that made Coda’s imagination run wild. They passed a faculty clearly intended of growing food, reminding him fondly of home on Rychos, as well as just how Emperor damned starving he was. The plants were all frozen, of course, but he may not even care soon enough. Eventually, he could tell exactly where the Mechanicus adept was leading them.

He spoke what he was coming to recognize as lingua technis, and the door to the Chirgeon’s office unlocked, a duplicate hologram of the Lady Valetta appearing inside.

“Infirmary access granted. Welcome, Magos Soelok.”

Coda raised his eyebrow. “I caught your name but nothing else. What’s she saying?”

Tallus did not reply, instead making his way to the back end of the room, looking over a strange translucent blue capsule that reminded Marcus of the containment cell he’d first seen Lady Klare in.

Reciting the rites of passage and the benediction of soothing, Magos Soelok clutched the ends of the container. “Ave Omnissiah, Machine God set us free.”

The capsule opened with a hydraulic hiss, the delighted tech priest stepping back to admire his god work. “Corporal Coda, please release the astropath into the device.”

Slackjawed, Marcus slowly approached the canister, a series of medicae equipment seemingly coming to life in his presence. Carefully, he placed Klare’s body within the machine, the hood closing in response and the various apparati going to work.

“Stabilizing patient. Applications of medigel will invariably accelerate the process.”

Tallus sighed in relief, and rested on the weight of his mechanical legs. “We are victorious, Corporal. We have been blessed by the Master of Mankind, and though our actions today His glory shall reign across the Galaxy for eternity to come.”

Coda breathed deeply, the weight of the last few hours finally catching up with him. “Good… Good.” He slumped down onto the cold metal floor, laying down uncaringly. Not fully dry yet, his uniform developed several damp spots, but Marcus didn’t care. He laughed.

“I woke up this morning with Fowler kicking my cot in my sleep, stale rations and a game of cards with Julius. He owed me a lho stick.” He chuckled, no longer truly speaking to the Magos. “We were prepared to die today. We were going to be all that stood between a greenskin warband and the millions on Tridal II before reinforcements arrived. Then the orders came. Instead we faced a platoon of necron warriors, a horde of crazy eldar, and the warpstorm to end all fucking warpstorms. Now the greatest hope for the fate of Humanity is lying comatose in a medicae’s office in the middle of fucking nowhere.”

He looked over to the Magos, staring silently at the Corporal.

“Aren’t we great at our job?”

At that, he riled a laugh from the tech priest. “Yes, Guardsmen. I suppose we are.”

Coda shook his head. “How do you do that anyway?

Tallus cocked his head towards him. “Do what?”

“Laugh.” Coda reiterated. “I can’t imagine a single adept, not even a lowly initiate, show the amount of emotion I’ve seen you express. You’re a Magos. Nothing about you makes sense.”

Marcus got the sense that the adept was smiling at him. “Confession. I am something of a philosopher within the Mechanicus. Since my initiation, my neurovaults have never contained emotional suppressors. I can quarantine my emotions and choose to experience them, should I desire, but I do not inhibit them. I rarely allow them access to my mind, but I am always aware of their existence.”

_Well how about that?_

Coda allowed his muscles to slack into the floor, his breathing even for the first time in hours. Soelok raised himself to his full height and made his way to the hologram projected in the room. “Should you wish to discuss more you may convene with me at another time, but for now, I much consult with the machine spirits.”

His brief rest was then abruptly interrupted by Soelok’s static jabbering, Coda rolling his eyes as he forced himself to rise. He stared silently at the girl under the transparent case being attended to by various surgical machines. Despite the trauma she faced, and the circumstances surrounding her now, he saw a lulled peace in her face he had never the time to notice before. Seven hours they’d carried her through that ship. Two more had he dragged her through this place. It was her fault. All of this, all these people dead, because she’d saved them. A guardsman’s life is sacrifice. Maybe they’d stand in an endless staring contest for the Drukhari for a thousand years or more, and maybe they gutted him when it was over. But the guard would come. They would return with the STC. He’d have made sure of it. But then she’d brought them here.

Staring at her now, Coda could not bring himself to find fault in her.

He thought it through as he wandered the halls, now actually at an Emperor blessed _comfortable_ temperature, leaving the Magos to converse with the strange machine spirit. It appeared a few times in front of him as he made his way through the corridors, but he still had no damned idea what it was saying. He found where he was looking for, the room with the food plants from before, and to his surprise and appreciation the machine spirit granted him entrance. Immediately he was blasted with a sense of warmth, clearly an artificial greenhouse of some type, but far more advanced than any Coda had ever seen. Rychos was lush and held great spanning fields, not designated rooms built for individual plants. He reached over and stroked his hand over the smooth features of a large red fruit. There were many growing from the stem of it, a type Coda had never seen before, but it was in fact most likely a food and most likely not poisonous. The plants had thawed but were still extremely cold, frozen all the way through to the core. Desperation overcoming his sense of self preservation, he bit into its skin.

He then proceeded to devour the half-frozen fruit vegetable thing, and immediately grab another. By the Emperor, he’d never tasted anything so good. Not in all his time on Rychos, and certainly not in his time eating spoiled rations in the militarum. He gorged himself on them, slowing down only due to the fact that he knew from his time on the agri-world eating too rich of foods on a starving stomach can complicate things. He placed a few in one of his cargo pockets, not even acknowledging the squishy stains it was making. It’d been stained by far worse.

He made his way throughout the facility, some doors opening, some remaining locked. All possessing equally befuddling technology, and each bearing the same mark. It was everywhere, on every wall and piece of equipment as you’d see the Imperial Aquila. He made his way through the corridors, occasionally hearing a loud thunk, grimacing as the thawing bodies began to fall. Eventually, he found himself back in the operations room, now a sea of slumped figures sprawled across the floor. Muttering prayers under his breath, he came to stand adjoining to the corner where Fowler lay still. Tired, sullen, and covered in Eldar blood, the man never looked so peaceful.

Coda sunk beside him, his gaze following Fowler’s to the floor. A part of him imagined the off chance that the Sergeant kept a flask of amasec on him, but he was likely only carrying smokes. Nevertheless, Coda grabbed the ceramic cup the scientist from earlier had carried on him, now chipped and on the floor. Most of its content was on the ground, but a bit remained inside, not fully thawed when it fell. He took one last look at his former CO.

“To our victory, Sergeant.”

He downed what contents remained. It felt like recaf, but its taste was completely off. Not that he minded, like much in this strange place he found it rather pleasant. He had underestimated just how _long_ the Magos would consort with the machine spirits of this fantastical place. Surely such information was coveted in the ‘quest for knowledge’, but that merely left him-

“You were always such a hardass.”

He didn’t know when he’d started talking. Nor did he know why he didn’t stop.

“One day I’m plowing the fucking field with Julius, next day we’re swearing service to the Emperor. Kid always hated the farm. In walks this cyborg with a fancy starship telling us to get onboard, grab a lasgun, and point them at every begotten xenos that stands in our way.”

He took another sip of the thawed contents.

“Greatest moment of my life was killing my first Eldar. Swift bastards are hard to hit, but he went down all the same. If I died then, I’d have scowared at least one vile xenos from the galaxy before I went. And then there you were, leading the charge, for four more fucking engagements. You made me your second for Emperor knows why.”

He stared ahead of him, his voice catching in his throat

“We always looked up to you, y-you know?”

Coda wept into his hand. He didn’t understand why. He hated Fowler, they all did. Everyone in the platoon. But despite everything…

He didn’t know how much time had passed before the infernal machine spouted at him again. He wanted to tell it to piss off, but she could understand him just as well as he could understand her. But something was different this time, whatever it was saying, it was saying it far more urgently.

“Warning: Unauthorized access admitted to Ward D. Please establish emergency data backups and make your way towards the shuttle bay for safe evacuation.”

Running his arm across his face he stood to look at the hologram, speaking in blaring tones and alarmed inflection. Cautiously, Marcus slung his lasrifle off his strap and into combat stance, making his way out the room.

“Magos…?”

He stepped lightly through the corridors, hearing no reply.

“Soelok!?”

“Here Guardsman!” He breathed a sigh of relief as he lowered his rifle, making his way to the Medicae’s office. He did not expect to find the Magos frantically establishing a defensive position, fortifying the door and looking around wildly. “Quickly, inside!”

Coda vaulted over the makeshift barricade, spinning his lasrifle around to face it. “What the hell is going on Magos?”

The tech priest merely aimed his laspistol towards the door, mechadendrites at the ready, standing between it and the astropath.

“They are here. We have been breached. We cannot allow her to fall into enemy hands.”

His stare unwavering, Coda held firm.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

“Are you sure this is going to work Mirands?” Shepard’s voice echoed though her suit radio. Never did she imagine she was going to have to walk on a molten world with a level 1 _cold_ hazard. Her eyes glanced down towards the Cerberus Operative taking a knee in in front of the station’s exterior, her omnitool fiddling with the door controls.

“It’s an older code, Shepard, but it should check out. They change regularly, but any within the last month should open it. We’ll just need to verify ourselves to the VI.”

“Assuming it’s still online.” Jacob commented, covering their flank. “Thermal plants can only pump out so much at below zero.”

“Well, that’s one piece of the puzzle so far.” Victoria muttered, gazing over the complex. She didn’t want to imagine what Cerberus could do if they managed to replicate whatever happened here. Regardless of what followed, the Illusive Man would _not_ be taking advantage of this.

_“Shepard, scans indicate that a portion of the facility’s power supply has been restored, though I cannot discern its origin. Furthermore, ambient temperatures within the station are within survivable limitations. The survival probability of the remaining scientists has surpassed negligible odds.”_

“Acknowledged. Appreciated EDI.” She turned to face Jacob, “Our top priority is getting them out alive. _Everything_ else is secondary.” She emphasized sternly, Jacob looking slightly uncomfortable.

“Alright Shepard, but I’ve got to say, accidents like these don’t go this bad this fast. We’re dealing with three people who somehow survived whatever happened here? Just be on your guard that this might’ve been an inside job.”

_“Operative Taylor may be correct, Shepard. We cannot ignore the possibility of indoctrinated agents or sleeper cells sabotaging critical Cerberus operations.”_

Victoria nodded as the doors swung open, a rush of hot air escaping the room.

“God damn…” Jacob lowered his pistol peering as the sprawling corpses, Miranda recoiling. Shepard narrowed her eyes.

“Alright. Stay close, stick together. We’ll find the survivors. And if they’re responsible for this, we’ll bring them down.”

“Understood.” Miranda responded, Jacob nodding in affirmation.

Walking through the minefield of bodies, the three carefully made their way to the other side of the room, and to the adjacent corridor. Signaling her squadmates to take flanking positions, Victoria stood behind cover as Miranda opened the door. No contact, just another body. They made their way across the hall, coming into a wide open area with plenty of corpses. However, finally a semblance of good news, the onboard VI flicked to life to greet them.

“WARNING: This is a private facility. Unauthorized access will not be accepted.”

_“Shepard, something is not right. If this program is indeed operational, it should be transmitting along Cerberus channels to the Illusive Man. It is not.”_

Miranda holstered her pistol and stepped up to the holographic interface.

“Program. Acknowledge user: Operative Director Miranda Lawson, Identification code Epsilon CDITE 86.”

“The invaders will be brought to heel.”

The three stared in bewilderment, Miranda taking a step back, Victoria’s hand gripping her sidearm.

“What? Command: Override, acknowledge last directive-.”

“Hostiles detected.”

They spun around to see multiple LOKI mechs approaching with guns drawn, suddenly firing on their position. “Hit the deck!”

The three dove for cover as they returned fire. “ _Again_ with the mechs!?” Victoria rolled her eyes, “Miranda, hit the flanker with an overload, Jacob lift the one behind cover.” She said as they complied, Victoria taking pot shots at the floating android. She noticed reinforcements appearing on the balcony of the upper level behind the original squad. She drew her shotgun.

“Cover me, I’m changing position!” she yelled, the two laying down suppressive fire as Shepard charged up to the new wave, erasing them before they even realized she was there. A few shells from her katana wasted the rest, her new vantage point perfectly overlooking the original division. What few she left standing were easily cleaned up by Jacob and Miranda. Carefully, she made her way back to the first floor, Jacob wide eyed and Miranda analytically impressed.

“Damn, Shepard. You think you can teach me to do that?”

“It was part of her reconstruction.” Miranda admitted. “One of the few things the Illusive Man allowed to be altered, coupled with her cybernetics. A completely new prototype biotic ability. Preliminary results seem very… effective.” She allowed herself a rare smile.

Shepard smirked, “You know, I’ve been to two Cerberus facilities so far, and both ended with insane mechs trying to shoot at me. Maybe the Illusive Man could afford to invest in some more human security.”

Miranda nodded in contemplation. “We’ll certainly talk about it. Though Wilson managed to hack the mechs with top level security access. Modifying the IFFs of an entire facility without it should be theoretically impossible, regardless of whatever else happened here.” She mused, before her eyes widened and her gaze fell over Victoria’s shoulder.

“Heretics…” Shepard aimed her predator before shed even turned to see the surviving LOKI mech crawling towards her, a single shot enough to put it down.

“Hai-Hai-Hail the Omnissiiiiaaahh…” it professed in a gradually lowering voice, before finally exploding in a small pop.

“Alright, what the hell are we dealing with here?” Jacob refusing to lower his pistol from the lifeless machine.

“Why don’t we ask her?” Victoria sneered as she approached the VI. “Why are you trying to kill us? Did you do all this? Where are the survivors?”

“The ruinous powers will hold no dominion over this-AAAAAGGGHHH!”

She stepped back as the VI sputtered and cried, until her orange hologram was replaced with EDI’s blue one.

_“Shepard, I’ve managed to isolate and access her program. This software is beyond anything Cerberus has ever devised, much less employed amongst operations. It is not self-aware, and I have contained it, however this revelation significantly increases the likelihood of indoctrinated agents working against us.”_ At that, Shepard grit her teeth, her grip on her pistol tightening. _“Furthermore, there is an alarming irregularity recorded. There are currently 522 individuals located within the Omicron facility, including your squad. Omicron station has a listed employee staff of 515. You are not alone.”_

“Damnit.” Victoria swore, the squad holding their weapons at attention. The scientists were dead, and they were facing an unknown enemy. She could see the biotics around her hand flare, before shaking it away.

“Wait… that math doesn’t check out.” Jacob rationalized. “515 staff, three survivors and three of us. That’s only 521.”

Victoria counted, he was right. Her brow furrowed, and she raised her shotgun in defiance. “Then we go find Seven.”

_“Commander, the amount of data I am receiving is immense, and using a programming language I have never encountered before. As of now I am quarantining this information and subjecting it to screening, but I have determined the location of the facility’s power supply. Updating your coordinates now.”_

Shepard received a ping on her omnitool, leading a few halls down and to the right. “Good a place as any to start. They’re hiding, and there’s nowhere left to go. EDI, if anything tries to leave the planet, I want Joker to blow it out of the sky.”

“Acknowledged. Good luck Commander.” her projection spoke before minimizing out.

Weapons drawn, they made their way through the facility. Piles of corpses surrounded them, only becoming thicker in the more prevalent rooms.

“It’s like they didn’t even see it coming…” Jacob muttered. “Like the colonies. Nothing’s out of place. Only whatever happened to them didn’t leave anything behind. These people all just… keeled over.”

“We’ll find whoever did this.” Victoria promised.

Jacob steeled himself. “I know Commander. I’m right behind you every step of the way, and we’re laying these bastards out to the grave. It just… not knowing you’re about to die, not being able to do anything about it? It’s a terrible way to go.”

Victoria narrowed her eyes and pressed forward. “We’ll make it up to them.”

Nodding, Jacob and Miranda followed her lead. It didn’t take them long to reach the room EDI had indicated, though it sat on the opposite side of a door at the end of the hallway. A perfect ambush scenario with zero cover. Shepard took a deep breath, double checked her biotic barrier, and pulled out her grenade launcher.

“On breach. Three… two… one… BREACH!”

The three stormed the next room, guns drawn and abilities at the ready, but no enemies came. Plenty of corpses, no hostile contacts. Only the constant thrum of whatever was in the next room. They made their way inside, Victoria slinging her launcher back over her shoulder. She scuffed her nose at the sickly smell permeating the room.

“Well, we found the Director.” Miranda said, looking over an older man matching the dossier from earlier. “Guess that skycar finally caught up with him.”

“Yeah, well maybe he’d rather-Oh, Jesus…” Jacob breathed, slackjawed. Victoria and Miranda looked over to him, and reviled at the sight. There in the corner lay a man, his veins blackened and gnarled, his eyes sullen and yellow. His cloths were strange, and his regalia featured a symbol Shepard had never encountered before. He was clearly military of some kind, though none Victoria could imagine. He smelled of death and fetid decay. But the most striking thing of all were the rampant cybernetic augmentations. Far more pronounced than any she’d ever seen on a human, or any alien for that matter. Metal covered about a third of his exposed skin, his hand and legs clearly prosthetics. His eye was unlike any she’d ever seen, its ocular lens so far removed from the Illusive Man’s subtle bionics.

“What in the hell?” Jacob stared in disbelief. Victoria steadied her breathing.

“I guess this would be number Seven. EDI, what am I looking at here?”

“Shepard… I do not know. None of what I am reading logically makes sense. His cybernetics are of a make and manufacture outside of any known corporation’s production, ignoring the countless Galactic laws and war treaties they violate. His insignias do not match any mercenary, pirate, or private army symbolisms in any of Cerberus’s databanks. Furthermore, the degree of egregious wounds the victim suffered before his death could not be caused by any known means of weapon, biotic ability, or technology Cerberus is aware of. I apologize commander, but I simply do not have the information required to explain this phenomenon. It is my tactical advise that hostilities with the remaining boarding party be regulated to acting only in self defense if possible. There are already far too many unknowns that are unaccounted for, with more appearing as you explore rather than being solved. Whatever information these interlopers possess, it will no doubt prove vital to the understanding of just what transpired aboard this station, and just who our perpetrators belong to.”

Victoria scowled but breathed deeply. “I don’t like this, but you’re right. New plan. Bring them in alive if possible, neutralize if necessary.” She ordered, noticing Jacob’s frown.

“Don’t worry Jacob. If they’re responsible for this, I will personally throw them out the airlock once we know everything they do.” That appeared to relax him, if only a little. He nodded in acceptance

“Shepard, come have a look at this…” Miranda asserted, typing into the nearby console. A viewscreen came to life, revealing what Victoria could only assume was live feed from the next room over. Depicted was a brightly glowing spinning metal ring, surrounding a violently pulsating biotic field she could only compare to one of Liara’s singularities.

“Miranda, what am I looking at?” she inquired cautiously.

“The schematics we reviewed earlier. This is what it was for. It isn’t a mass relay Shepard. It’s a mass effect drive particle accelerator:”

Not for the first time Shepard wished Kaiden were here, he’d have been able to explain the tech to her. She gave her XO a sideways glance. “Is it dangerous?”

Miranda shook her head. “No, despite what it looks like the field is stable. This device is incredible, who knows what Wesley could have done with it. At the moment it’s providing power to the station, but without more eezo it will only last another couple of hours.”

Victoria narrowed her eyes and gripped her sidearm. “We won’t need that long.”

“That’s not all though. Someone accessed this with Dr. Asimov’s security clearance, just a few hours ago.” Miranda said with trepidation. “That should be completely impossible, even if you knew his security codes. There’s no way anyone should have been able to cycle the priming sequence unless they were Dr. Asimov themselves. The command console is voice printed.”

Victoria sighed, “Well, we said the same thing about the mechs. So either there’s a master hacker amongst our boarding party, or there’s a ghost in the machine.” She said with a slight smile.

Jacob cleared his throat. “Commander, I’ve been thinking about something. Whatever happened to that man, the one in the corner, no way was it any of the scientists. EDI already said they weren’t building weapons here, let alone ones that could do… that. I’m thinking, whoever these people are that came here with him, they might have more wounded than just him. And there’s only one place to take the wounded that aren’t dead yet.”

Shepard’s smile broadened, nodding her head. “EDI, navigate us to the medical bay.”

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

They both stood in silence, when they heard footsteps approaching.

A bead of sweat ran down Coda’s brow. He had not wavered from his position in thirty minutes. Watching, waiting, begging for the enemy to show its face. He’d heard their clamoring and scuffles with the machines three corridors away, whoever they were fighting they were loud and unreserved. He wanted to ask the Magos where he’d acquired the smooth white automatons, but he dared not make a sound to give away his position. Though a part of him wanted credit for the idea of waking up a robot army.

It proved irrelevant in the end, anyways, as the machines were dispatched just as easily as they arrived. Even the Lady Valetta herself fell silent, much to the distress of the Magos. Whatever filthy xenos reared its ugly head, it’d have about three seconds to keep it.

They turned the corner, and Coda’s mouth went dry.

_Humans._

Emperor blessed, honest to goodness humans. He immediately raised his rifle away from them, a motion easily noticed by the three, shouting in a strange language and barreling for cover. He could admire their reflexes, but they still peaked around cover far too much. All it takes is a single shot. Their tongue was far from the only thing strange about them though. Two wore armor he did not recognize, certainly not amongst the militarum. The third wore a skin tight catsuit with heightened heels he could only imagine belonging on an Imperial noble of an esteemed hiveworld. To see one holding a weapon competently was almost amusing. He did not recognize the makes of their pistols either, nor did he want to find out their ammunition.

He could’ve marked them for mercenaries, but their movements were far too coordinated. There was clearly a leadership structure present, with the redheaded woman at the top. That was another strange thing. There was only a single redheaded family on all of Rychos, said to be descended from a great noble household long since forgotten, their features now only a novelty. Despite not understanding a word she said, it was clear by their positioning and covering flank at her direction that she was a tactician. He respected that. The woman he presumed was her lieutenant was the face of the the Adepta Sororitas, a banner of the Emperor’s blessing. Her beauty was without measure, and for that reason Coda distrusted her. The man was angry. His eyes were seething. Good. That anger would keep him alive. He shared the completion of some of the humans he’d encountered here, and that’s when he noticed the symbol on his armor. It was the same as the one on the noblewomen, the mark he’d become intimately familiar with over the last few hour.

“…Oh shit.”

He ducked behind cover as he realized just who the anger in the man’s eyes was directed at. “Magos… They think we killed them.”

“We did kill them Guardsman.” Soelok replied, his aim unwavering. Coda narrowed his eyes.

“Would you put that thing away?” he snapped, “They’re human, Lord Magos. They’re clearly not mutant nor are they the Enemy, and far more importantly, they haven’t shot at us yet. We are keeping it that way, unless you have another means off this Emperor damned planet?”

The tech priest was silent for a moment, before lowering his weapons in uneven measure. “I concur with your logic, Corporal, however they cannot be allowed admission to the astropath. Diplomatic relations must be established if we are to leave with this party amicably, or we will be forced to commandeer their vessel.”

Coda didn’t like the sound of that. From the way they fidgeted it wouldn’t be too difficult to kill them, truly he was stunned by how badly they blatantly ignored effective cover. Perhaps they were just as hopeful as he was to end this without human blood being spilt. He’d seen enough of it on Cadent. But slowly, carefully, he raised his open palm above his position, hoping that whatever backwards deathworld he’d ended up on understood it.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

“What is that? Some kind of latin?” Miranda asked bewildered. It came as a shock to all of them when the man behind the barricade gave up his position and began speaking in a language their universal translators didn’t pick up. Shepard could understand the translator in her omnitool having a hard time, she’d only just acquired it, but the implanted one she had behind her ear was one of the most advanced in the galaxy, with the most sophisticated library the Illusive Man could buy. Every human language, every dialect, every regional subdialect ever spoken should have flawless translated to her, and yet she heard only gibberish.

Jacob shook his head. “Sounds more like broken german. Old german. Maybe a bit more Scandinavian.”

The operators are correct, Commander. If I am dissecting the individual’s speech patters correctly, I am discovering an immeasurably complex Lingua Franca encompassing dozens, if not hundreds of spoken human languages. With enough data I can begin to extrapolate rudimentary translation. Keep him talking Shepard.”

“Well that shouldn’t be a problem.” Victoria muttered. “He’s having a great conversation with his mech.”

Truly, she was surprised by how much the two spoke with each other. The terrifying mechanical android with spider legs kept its strange pistol held in one of its snakelike arms trained on them, but not making a move otherwise. Its owner was clearly conversing with it, and it seemingly had the capability to respond in the same medley language. EDI was listening intently, compiling millions upon millions of datapoints in order to synthesize the nuances of their discussion.

It truly was horrifying to look at, the wires and glowing eyes reminding her of geth. Its myriad octopus arms seemed to provide impressive dexterity and object manipulation, but it was clearly a combat model with one of the arms fused to its pistol. By itself it was not that intimidating, just an overly complicated engineer’s dream. But the way it had been dressed up in a crimson robe, it almost looked like a man.

“It’s lowering the weapon.” Jacob noticed, and true enough the gun was lowered, but still held at hip height should it need to be drawn again.

Shepard, while I appreciate the progress that has been made and encourage you continue open dialogue, an irregularity has appeared you should be made aware of. While the entity beside the man is overwhelmingly mechanical, there are in fact trace biological markers throughout its systems.”

“What are you saying?” Shepard asked, now incredibly concerned.

“We may be dealing with an entity similar to the discarded remains of Saren Arterius during your battle against Sovereign.”

Victoria felt her stomach drop. If that were the case, then there were far more people in danger than just those aboard this station. It all made sense. A vessel of the reapers would account for all the strange circumstances of this mission, but that still didn’t account for the very normal human currently taking cover out of view beside it.

That was until a single open palm slpwly made its way into their line of sight sight.

“Hmph. Think the hacker’s trying to surrender.” Jacob spat, “Coward that he is.”

“Easy, Jacob.” Shepard warned, “We still have no idea what we’re dealing with here. No one’s making any sudden moves till we have contact or confirmation. EDI, any updates?”

“Processing. It is a fascinating amalgamation Commander, one that would keep linguists and etymologists writing dissertation papers for decades. Whatever we are dealing with here, despite circumstances, I do not believe it is of reaper origin. I can attempt primitive interpretation, though there is a wide margin for error that will be decreased with further communication.’

Victoria nodded. “It’ll have to be enough.” She holstered her predator and slowly, confidently, making her way out of cover. The droid made no move against her, nor did the man attempt to attack her, so she cautiously moved to the center of the room, completely exposed.

She held out her omnitool.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

“What kind of foul xenos technology is this?” Coda remarked, staring at the hologram enveloping the suicidal woman’s arm. He certainly wasn’t going to shoot her, and while he had no guarantees he didn’t expect the Magos to shoot her. Nevertheless, only a fool walks into open territory with a potential enemy. More so when blatantly displaying suspicious technologies unseen by man.

“I do not believe this to be tech heresy, Corporal.” Soelok uttered, “These may yet prove to be of human design.”

He’d have been surprised, if not for all the other things he’d seen in this obviously human base. And they were flying their colors. Perhaps the Magos was correct. Reminded of this place’s mechanical achievements, Marcus reached into his cargo pocket and pulled out a pinchfull of the delectable fruit, nibbling on it in what may well be the precipice of his final moments, savoring the sweet flavor. Suddenly, the dauntless woman spoke.

“PEAS.”

Coda raised an eyebrow, glancing at the Magos. “Is she trying to say ‘Peace’?”

“PEACE.” The woman exclaimed, reading off her holographic cogitator. Her pronunciation was abysmal, but he understood the point. He placed his lasrifle on the wall beside him and showed both his palms.

“Peace.”

“NAME.”

This time Tallus stepped forward, the opposing party eyeing each other with marked concern. Marcus didn’t blame them. He hated they looked too.

“Identification. I am High Explorator Magos Tallus Soelok, Highest voice of the Adeptus Mechanicus stationed aboard the Imperial Battleship _Woelight_ chartered under Captain Clavus Yarnell. Beside me stands Astra Militarum Guardsman Corporal Marcus Valorus Dimazzi Stael Coda, vaunted bulwark of the Cadent 224th Regiment. We stand before you as ambassadors of the Imperium, vassals of the God Emperor, and doom to all that disgrace their name. What say you?”

In spite of everything, Coda couldn’t break the smug grin forming on his face.

Victoria breathed deeply. What few words actually came back translated did not reassure her, but on the bright side the mech’s shpeal did wonders for the translation algorithm. She still didn’t catch their names, if he’d even said them at all. If she could trust what the machine told her, they were from a heavily militarized organization, but with certain words shedding a curious light on that subject. She tapped on her omnitool again.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

“SHEPARD.”

Coda looked at the woman with a confused stare.

“I-DEN-TI-FI-CA-TION. VICTORIA SHEPARD. CAPTAIN OF THE _NORMANDY._ ”

His eyes went wide. “A Captain? Oh, thank the Emperor for small blessings…”

“Fascinating…” Soelok mused, cocking his head. “The machine spirit of that cogitator device must be some form of translator. Standby Corporal. I will attempt to facilitate communications.”

Static blared from his voxphone.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Miranda and Jacob covered their ears, the feedback of their suit radios deafening.

“What the hell is it doing now?”

_“Commander, this is unprecedented. I am receiving a_ staggering _amount of data directly from the entity by a means and intimacy I would never have thought possible, had I not been experiencing it personally. This is beyond Reaper technology. As a precautionary measure I have quarantined my wireless connection to the_ Normandy _’s AI Core and am currently utilizing the various processors housed throughout the Omicron facility. Whatever this creature is, it is not attempting to hack or disengage my subroutines. I am receiving immense linguistical data. He is… singing to me.”_

Victoria glanced at her fluctuating omnitool with warranted skepticism.

_“Evaluation complete. I am still processing the sheer magnitude of this information, Commander, but I have compiled a translational codex that should prove sufficient for the time being. The importance of successfully extracting these people to the_ Normandy _cannot be overstated, if only for questioning.”_

Shepard looked back to the man holding his hands up. “EDI, what do you mean by people? What are we dealing with here?”

_“Shepard, the entity is not what he seems. It is by no means a mech. It is entirely possible that we are dealing with a rival sentient intelligence, I advise caution. I have still not yet discerned its true nature, but if my evaluation is correct, there is something far more going on here. Furthermore, there is a third entity within the medical bay, human, and in critical condition. She is stable, but if we do not get her to the_ Normandy _’s medical facilities before Omicron runs out of what limited power it possesses, she will not survive. My processing power alone is putting an immense strain on the station’s reserves. I recommend haste.”_

Victoria grimaced. “Acknowledged.”

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

The woman met Coda’s hopeful stare with cold fortitude. She glanced back at her hologram, pressing a few buttons before she read aloud.

“My name is Commander Victoria Shepard, Alliance Navy. You and your crew stand accused of the massacre within this station, and will be detained aboard my ship for questioning until your degree of involvement has been determined. You will be treated with the rights and freedoms recognized under galactic law as prisoners of war, and your wounded will be attended to under our medical care so long as you remain in our custody. I should remind you that there is no other way off this plazet-planet? _Planet_ , and any attempt to leave this station by use of a shuttle will be treated as a hostile action. If you accept this opportunity to surrender, I can guarantee you your lives and all amenities you are entitled to should you cooperate. If you refuse, we will have no choice but to engage in further hostilities.”

Coda rolled his eyes. “Shouldn’t have come out of cover if she was going to threaten us.” He breathed slowly, debating his next words when Soelok spoke up.

“We shall take this opportunity.”

He sighed in relief. “Good, I thought I was going to have to convince you.”

The Magos shook his head. “It is only logical. The _Commander_ is correct. We suffer multiple tactical disadvantages in face of our current circumstances, protocol dictates action. We will be brought aboard their vessel, discern our galactic coordinates, and introduce these humans to the greater galactic Imperium. We will guide their ship to the nearest Imperial outpost, and from there establish ourselves within a planetary regiment of which I will assume command. Be at ease Corporal. We will return to the _Haevus_ yet.”

The woman, _Shepard_ stared in disbelief at the words she was likely reading off her holographic device. Coda remained mesmerized by the technology, not even the Adeptus Astartes had field equipment this advanced. He couldn’t even imagine how the Magos felt. He didn’t know who these people were nor what their disconnection from the Imperium was, but he was determined to find out. The woman continued, staring at him.

“You will be disarmed, and your companion’s mobile platform will be quarantined until we reach the _Normandy._ Do you understand me?” she asked, a hopeful plea apparent in her tone of voice.

It took Marcus a moment to process exactly what she’d said, her accent was still horrendous. But once he did, Marcus Coda doubled over in pained laughter despite everything happening to him. He looked up to see two shocked and confused faces and one glaring one, his strange pistol trained on him. Coda didn’t mind, snickering to himself.

“She thinks… She thinks you’re a machine.” He laughed, genuinely, for the first time in what felt like ages.

Tallus simply tightened his posture in recognition. “I consider that the highest honor the Omnissiah can bestow.”

“Of course you would…” Marcus sighed, raising his arms. He slowly made his way over the barricade and faced the _Commander Shepard_.

“We surrender.”

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

_Thank God…_ Victoria thought to herself. She glanced over to the strange spidery exoskeleton of whatever creature stood behind the barricade.

So, whatever this thing was, it wasn’t a machine. Good to know. Had to be an incredibly advanced alien hardsuit, like the volus wore, but Victoria couldn’t even imagine what species could fit inside of such a thin frame. The volus were much too stocky to support themselves in it, and the quariens were far too tall if it only went from the waist up. And neither had the right number of fingers. Five on each hand, though far more mechanical than Victoria would’ve expected from a hardsuit. Eight razor thin legs, and several wiry manipulator arms. One held a sidearm of a design she’d never seen before.

_What are you?_

And what was this Imperium they kept referencing? There was no galactic government under that name as far as Victoria’s knowledge went, certainly not within the Traverse, not unless something had _really_ changed within the last two years. She hadn’t gotten much chance to catch up on the extranet since she woke up, but still. Something like that should have come up somewhere.

The strange mechanical being had mentioned ‘discerning their galactic coordinates’. She couldn’t fully trust that they weren’t saying things to provide an alibi, but if they truly didn’t know where they were, that just put a lot more things into question. Nobody should have been able to find this base, even if they were searching for it. That was the whole point. Four people show up out of nowhere, five hundred end up dead, including one of theirs with another in critical condition. Not even to mention the ice. She didn’t even want to try on that one. Nothing made sense. She wasn’t going to believe anything till she got some answers, and she wasn’t going to find them here. She tapped her radio.

“Joker? Prep the shuttle bay to receive. We have wounded and prisoners in tow…” she began, eyeing the alien, “…And you might want to pull out a Systems Alliance handbook. We may actually have a first contact situation on our hands.”

She heard whatever drink Joker had been having being spat out, coughing a few times before regaining his voice. “Oh shit, are you serious? -Uh I mean Yes Commander, of course. I’ll have the Doc meet you down there. Is there, uh, does Cerberus even have protocols for this? I mean it can’t be any worse than the Turians but still. We’ll be ready Shepard, just send the word.”

“We’ll be there soon.” she confirmed, dropping the line. She looked at the man, hands raised, evaluating him. Relatively young, probably mid-thirties. Stocky, not too built, but certainly athletic. He was definitely a soldier, one that almost certainly saw combat, but not one from any military or merc band Victoria had ever seen. His armor was covered with a symbol she didn’t recognize, a two headed bird of some kind, clearly it was significantly important to him. But there was a lightness to his eyes she didn’t expect of a hardened killer. He’d have looked absolutely out of place for what was going on here, if not for the drenching bloodstains on his uniform.

But that only raised one more problem. Nobody in the entire facility was bleeding. No one except-

Her eyes flashed with accusation. She typed a few keys into her omnitool. “Did you kill the man in the other room?”

The change in the soldier’s demeanor was immediate. The sheer rage in his face half convinced Victoria he was about to attack her, but just as soon as it appeared it was replaced by a pained grief. He shook his head, speaking some words before Victoria had a chance to read them.

“I didn’t kill Fowler. Fucking eldar _bitch_ got him right in the gut. He gave it back to her pretty nice though. You can probably scrape some of her off his coat.” He smirked halfheartedly. “Sergeant Fowler died with honor as any Guardsman should, and his soul fights beside the Emperor in the immortal conquest.” He said, like he was reciting it.

That answer provided Victoria far more problems than solutions. What the hell was an Eldar? Was that an organization or a species? A slang word? Where was its body, where there others with it? Who was the Emperor of this Imperium? The soldier spoke reverently, like it was a prayer. The talk about souls and immortality only solidified it. Shepard had a fairly solid faith born of her time in service, but she still didn’t like dealing with religious fanatics. Not since the massacre with ‘Father Kyle’.

The man slowly approached her and reached into his jacket picket. Jacob maintained professional trigger discipline, but trained his sights on the soldiers head all the same. His aim didn’t waver a millimeter when the soldier in turn pulled out a gun, or rather what she assumed was a gun, as nonthreateningly as he could and handed it to her. It was the most ornate, beautiful masterpiece of a firearm Victoria had ever laid eyes on. It belonged in a museum. Miranda and Jacob were having the same reaction, but both kept their sights on him.

She glanced at her omnitool as the man started talking.

“I knew you were gonna have to confiscate that anyway, but listen to me very carefully, _Commander Shepard_. If I find even a single scratch on that boltpistol that wasn’t there before when I get it back, I’m using it on you and everyone on your ship. Damn what the Magos has to say about it.”

Victoria nodded. She wouldn’t want an artwork like this tarnished either. But the way he obviously threatened her with it meant that this antique was not only capable of firing, but was perhaps even effective at it. She delicately handed it to Jacob for safe keeping, who couldn’t take his eyes off its design.

And there was a new word. Magos. She could finally call the alien something now. And there was an interesting underlying hint of authority in the way he’d said it. There may be a hierarchy here she hadn’t seen before.

“We’ll take good care of it.” She promised. She looked up at the relieved man’s eye with speculation and fervent interest. “Who are you?”

The soldier smiled. “Guardsman Corporal Marcus Coda. Cadent’s 224th ma’am.”

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

They were preparing to leave, Coda could tell. It had felt like a knife in the gut handing over his lasrifle, he was drilled since he was a child to never hand over a weapon, but he knew he wasn’t getting off this planet with it in his hands. It was somehow easier turning over Fowler’s sidearm, despite its significance, perhaps because he’d never used it to protect himself. His lasrifle has saved his life dozens of times from when he first touched down on the fields of Tu’Ceri to the final moments against the dark eldar scourge.

The Magos was equally reluctant to bring fourth the astropath, wheeling over her containment pod as he sang prayers to the machine spirits keeping her alive. When he finally brought her out, her melted eyes and charcoaled sockets visible through the containment shield, the Shepard person didn’t take too kindly to it.

“Christ, why haven’t you applied medigel to the poor woman!?”

He didn’t understand her native tongue, but it was clear she was not happy.

She stood determined in front of the Magos, Coda admittedly approving how undaunted she was by his appearance. And it he had to admit, it felt good to see someone order him around for a change. “Open the pod”

Tallus stood motionless and unresponsive. “Access denied.”

Victoria was stunned for a moment, before flaring up in anger. “We need to stabilize her for transport, she’ll never make it to the _Normandy_ without medigel. Open the damn pod.”

“Access. Denied.”

He glanced at Soelok. “The hell’s medigel?”

Victoria was slackjawed, not responding for a second. She stared at the two incredulously. “…Medicine. A curative salve. We can’t bring the pod aboard the shuttle, and as it stands she’ll die without it. Unless you allow me to heal her.”

Coda huffed, seemingly impressed. “A Captain and a Medicae. These people are full of surprises.”

The Magos was incredibly apprehensive, mulling over the variables and potential outcomes. Coda looked at him, and spoke cogently. “The Lady Klare’s survival is the _only_ thing that matters. You said so yourself. She will die if she stays here, this is a certainty. With them she has a chance. They’re human. We can trust them.”

The Magos focused his various lenses at the burnt face of the astropath. “Acceptable logic. Releasing her now.” The wires of his mechadendrites interfaced with the pod, much to the raised eyebrows of the crew. In a moment, the hiss of displaced air accompanied the releasing of the pod. The Lady looked completely undisturbed, still in a comatose state.

Commander Shepard breathed steadily, and then her holographic device began to glow brightly. Holding it above the Lady Klare’s head, the Magos becoming increasingly anxious, it began to disperse a clear material that coated her eyes. What Coda saw was nothing less than a miracle by the Emperor himself. Immediately the wounds began to repair themselves, the blacking around her eyes receding till it was only amongst her sockets. It was still cracked with burn scars, but now it looked like a years old wound well healed, having only been hours ago. Her skin returned to its normal shade, her slow breathing sounded healthier. Marcus’s mind raced. How many billions could have survived had they only this technology? How much stronger the Imperium would become? How many could have lived.

Fowler could have lived.

_No._ He told himself. Even this miracle wonder couldn’t stop the damage already done. He didn’t die from his wounds.

He sighed, staring in amazement at the power before him. No matter what else, he needed to secure some to take back to the Imperium. He knew that Soelok was thinking the same thing. The Magos placed a reverent hand on the Lady Klare’s head. “Vital signs stabilized. Incredible technology…” he muttered, his lenses fixated on Victoria’s arm. “Corporal, you must secure the astropath and our passage aboard that ship. I will secure Sergeant Fowler.”

Coda coughed, unsure he’d heard the adept correctly. “What? Why?”

The tech priest clicked his fingers. “His debt is not yet paid. The good Sergeant will serve us yet, Corporal Coda. Far more importantly…” he whispered, his voice becoming gravely serious. “If they present any harm to Lady Klare, no matter the circumstances, you will do what is necessary to ensure her survival. Do I make myself clear?”

“Of course, Lord Magos.” He said, all eyes on him, Coda hoping her little device hadn’t picked up that last bit.

The sound of mechanical clicks rapping against the metal floor drew everyone’s attention, Jacob raising the ornately crafted pistol he was studying and held it square at the tech priest, Coda’s face paling

“And just where do you think you’re going, huh?” he threatened, his aim level and sights centered. “Start talking before we find out what this heavy son of a bitch can do.”

Victoria held up the adept and translated, eager to keep him within sights as well. The Magos seemed indifferent.

“Please inform your sycophant that the ordinance of that weapon exceeds the capacity to kill both of us, mutilate Corporal Coda, and cripple his right arm.”

Victoria’s eyes widened for a moment, then signaled Jacob to put his weapon away, Marcus speaking up.

“Commander, he wishes to collect our dead, to properly honor him when we leave this place. It’s a… cultural thing.” He lied, hoping they had enough sense as a military force to care about anything like that. ”Please do not attempt to harm him. It will end poorly.”

To his surprise and relief, the Commander nodded in apparent understanding and sympathy. She typed into her cogitator before responding. “Citadel law recognizes your right to adhere to your allies last wills and testimonies, but I can’t let him just walk away. Miranda, attend to the _Magos_ , don’t let him try anything.”

She nodded curtly, “Of course, Commander.”

He watched with conceded amusement as the egotistic adjunct attempted to ‘disarm’ Soelok, before realizing with an appreciable look of horror that the lasguns was in fact fused to his body. He enjoyed seeing someone with such an obviously high opinion of themselves blatantly not know what to do or how to respond. It was validating.

They left together regardless, and it wasn’t until Marcus saw Soelok’s mechadendrites carrying Fowler’s body did the sinking feeling in his chest return.

“Corporal Coda, remove the astropath.”

He looked down at Lady Klare, nodding his head. For the fourth time in the last fourteen hours, by the Emperor he hadn’t even thought about the time, he reached down and lifted the frail woman into his arms. The medigel had really outdone its work. Her face was almost recognizable.

That was in highly stark contrast to the blackened and wasted visage of the late Sergeant. Even in death Coda couldn’t help but feel bad for him, he was truly haunting to look at.

_And the smell…_

“Alright people, we’re packing it up, the bay is prepped and Joker gave us the all clear.” Commander Shepard said, once he assumed in her own tongue and once in theirs. Her pronunciation was getting marginally better, but it was still atrocious for even a child of the Imperium. He knew a few dozen variants of Low Gothic, for more than just the tithe officers came to trade on Rychos, and whatever butchered language these people spoke was one unlike any he’d heard before. Her translations were understandable thought, and that was all that mattered. He simply thanked the Emperor they were human.

She gave him a strange look before speaking again. “Are you good carrying her till we reach the shuttle?”

Marcus simply laughed, catching her off guard. “I’ve carried her all this way, Commander. I can carry her the rest.”

She nodded her head, leading the four of them out the building, her lieutenants covering their rear. Silently Victoria wondered just where he’d been carrying her, this compound was only a few square hundred meters. He continued to be amazed at the astounding technology at their disposal, interfacing remotely with the facility itself in a way the tech priests could only dream of. With a wave of her hand the doors would open, and suddenly he felt really a highly memorable cold.

“Alright!” Shepard yelled above the sheering wind, activating some kind of holographic helmet along with her squad. How that protected them in any way he could not imagine, but he had seen stranger things in the last few hours, so he didn’t question it. They made their way to the ‘shuttle’ they cad apparently arrived on, Marcus mentally scoffing at the size. It was so blatantly underwhelming, though he didn’t know what he should’ve expected from a three-person team. Maybe they really were mercenaries. “Get the wounded inside, and strap yourselves in.”

Delicately, he carried the Lady Klare to one of the strange seats, securing her inside. He couldn’t believe how cramped it was. It would barely seat a squad. Clearly, they were afraid Fowler might genuinely come apart, so they laid him out on the floor. Coda could not imagine what the damned tech priest wanted him for, but he hadn’t truly been lying about honoring the dead. He didn’t want to leave Fowler shoved into the corner of a mass grave, his body likely to be thrown out or desecrated by whatever came after them.

She raised her fingers to her ear, Coda understanding it was her means of vox transmission, but whoever was on the other side was nowhere to be seen. “Joker, we’re on our way. Get the Kodiak on sensors and get Chakwas to the shuttle bay.”

**“Aye Aye Commander.”** Came the voice through the vox. He’d have to ask how that worked later. Right now, he was somewhat distracted by the thing on everyone’s mind, that being the putrid stench of Fowlers rotting corpse saturating the confined shuttle. He hoped for their sake those holographic masks came with some kind of filter, but from the looks of everyone fighting to stay composed, he highly doubted it.

The only one seemingly unperturbed was the Magos, Marcus rolling his eyes.

“Of course you’re not bothered by this.” He remarked, smirking at the tech priest. “You can turn your nose off.”

Even if his words about his ‘emotional suppressors’ were true, Coda knew there wasn’t an adept in the galaxy who would recognize a joke if it hit them in the face. Well, faceplate. Soelok was no different, however he reacted with more assertion than Marcus expected.

“I’m a Magos guardsman. I don’t need to breathe.”

Coda raised an eyebrow, as did Victoria as she glanced at her device, before tapping her fist against the wall to her side. No sooner had she done so that Coda felt a sudden feeling of vertigo, with the unmistakable sensation of flight. But there was no takeoff, no thrust, no cycling of promethium. He sat open mouthed, gawking to himself at the realization.

_Anti-grav_ technology. He had only heard loose rumors of the technology’s existence in the Imperium. He had seen a few such vehicles in the eldar’s possession on Tu’Kari, but never piloted by Humans. And now he was riding in one. Either these people were extremely wealthy or incredibly influential. Or both. Or they were pirates, but Marcus couldn’t imagine cutthroats healing their victims so freely. They were prisoners, not hostages. He’d just have to wait for answers. They would come in time.

He glanced at the metal panel Victoria had rapped against, realizing it was a signal to the humans on the other side.

“Who’s flying this thing?” he yelled above the thrusters. Victoria and Miranda stared in confusion, likely not understanding him.

It did not take long for the hovercraft to make its ascent, though it felt like hours with the Sergeant aboard. Eventually he felt the shuttle disengage its thrusters and land briskly against cold hard metal. Coda’s eyes shot open. They couldn’t have breached atmo that quickly, nevermind docked with a moving vessel without so much as a sound.

Nevertheless, the pod bay doors opened, his eyes widening at the sight before him. He stepped out after the Commander, a half dozen human crewmembers holding odd rifles to him, but he genuinely didn’t care. At first he refused to believe they were even aboard a ship. It was so pristine, so absent of the familiar swaths of oil and incense, of the grime and toilings of the misbegotten crew. Every surface was so smooth and streamlined rather than the jagged boxed designs of Imperial vessels. Yet as he saw more there was no denying they were in fact aboard a vessel of some sort, despite all the circumstances.

“Dear God, what happened to the poor girl?” a voice spoke out, and Coda saw an extremely elderly woman staring at the astropath in his arms. He was getting real tired of not understanding a word anyone was saying, but the concern in her voice was universal. He took a second to appreciate the determination in her aged features. She was someone who had seen the death of a brother in arms. She was also possibly the oldest person he had ever seen that wasn’t augmented. That alone earned his respect. She had a shining humanity about her that Coda admired immediately.

Victoria spoke up. “She wants you to put the woman on the gurney. The, uh, rolling table.” He looked down and narrowed his eyes, shaking his head.

“Fowler.”

As he stepped off the nervous crewmen quickly turned their guns on the appearing Magos, his stare calculating. Marcus chuckled to himself.

He could kill about four of them before the fifth got a shot off, even with half his wires holding up the Sergeant.

Some of the crewmen paled, the woman’s eyes bulging. Whether that was in response to Fowler or Soelok, Coda couldn’t tell. Silently, the blackened body was placed upon the stretcher, himself unmoving as he held tight to the astropath. He noticed the man from earlier scowling at him, turning to the Commander.

“Shepard, I don’t like this. He can attempt to use her as a hostage.”

He saw her glance at him, then shake her head. “I don’t think he will. She’s clearly worth a lot more to them than she is to us. Keeping her alive is paramount for them, for whatever reason. They won’t put her in danger now on a gamble.” She typed into her hologram, changing to Low Gothic. ”Allow me to introduce you to Dr. Karin Chakwas, Chief Medical Officer aboard the _Normandy_. She’ll be taking care of your companion for the time being. The doctor is the best of the best, she’s in good hands. I promise.”

Coda shot her a confused look. “Forgive me Commander. I was under the impression that _you_ were the Medicae of this ship.”

Victoria eyed him skeptically. “I have no more medical expertise than Systems Alliance basic training. Medigel is universal. All of us are capable of administering it.”

Coda’s mouth dropped to the floor, the doctor and crewmen exchanging wary glances. Easing herself, the aging Medicae approached Soelok, attempting to keep her eyes focused on his lenses rather than his various parts. She appeared as though she wanted to speak when a familiarly synthesized voice spoke up, Soelok frantically looking around.

“Commander, after processing the information the Magos provided me, I have compiled a more thoroughly comprehensive analysis of their language. I apologize for the delay, but their dialect is far more complex than any known language in citadel space. Updating your omnitool translators now.”

There was a series of beeps as everyone’s arms in the room began to glow, Coda seizing up preparing for the worst. Then the noble one made her way to him.

“Can you understand us?” she said in perfect Rychos Low Gothic.

“Oh thank the Emperor.” He sighed. “Yes. Yes I can understand you. Its nice to finally talk to another human.” He said, smiling tiredly. He didn’t trust this woman, but that certainly didn’t mean he had to piss her off.” She nodded in response. The artificial voice spoke again.

“Should you wish to update your implant, Commander Shepard, I can arrange and appointment with Dr. Chakwas at a later time.”

“That’s quite aright EDI, I’ll attend to her personally after all this.” The good Doctor reassured her. After collecting herself, she spoke slowly to the Magos. “Please forgive me. I apologize to ask, but would you mind telling us… what species you are? I cannot properly care for your health until I know what I’m dealing with, and I’m sure the Commander would like to know.”

Coda was taken aback. Why wouldn’t they shoot him in the face if they’d suspected him of being a xenos? Granted he was thankful they didn’t, but still. They actually allowed the adept onto their ship. Did they truly have no tech priests aboard? He knew many looked far more human than Soelok, but even a brief acquaintance with a fledgling tech priest would have no doubt seared the image of the mechanical men into their minds. To be absent entirely? It explained the lack of smells, but how could such an elegant ship even attempt to fly without one?

“Is this supposed to be some kind of organic witticism?” the Magos chided in vague offense. “I assure you, Medicae, I am as human as you.”

Now it was their turn for their mouths to drop. Coda smirked. “Told you so.”

“You… You’re… human?” Shepard asked incredulously. She almost couldn’t believe it, but it was all there. The mannerisms. The command structures. Had he been just an average human many of his comments before would’ve made far more sense. But _this_?

“Affirmation. As much as any member of the Adeptus Mechanicus. What organic components remain share the blood of Humanity’s flock. Though I have shed the weakness of my flesh, I assure you all, I am only a threat to those who make one of me.”

The room took stock of each other, everyone as shocked as the last. Shepard focused on his myriad eyes. “Any member? There are more like you?”

Tallus in turn focused his lenses on her. “The servants of the Omnissiah are legion, Commander Victoria Shepard. The forges brighten the worlds of a thousand systems. The skitarii that preserve us are infinite. My own forces alone nearly secured victory aboard the _Haevus_ -“.

“We were **slaughtered** on the _Haevus_.” Coda jeered, before realizing all were staring at him, including Soelok. He gulped. “My apologies, Lord Magos. That was not my place. I was out of line.”

“Indeed, Guardsman.” He said, betraying no emotion.

It was then Miranda spoke up. “You better hope for her sake your stories are straight. You’re still prisoners aboard this ship, implicated in the extermination of every scientist at Omicron facility as well as compromising their assets. You’ll both be separated and under guard until the investigation is resolved. If we don’t get the answers we like, you can expect to spend the rest of your incredibly short lives in a Cerberus interrogation cell.”

Coda narrowed his eyes. Expected, but unfortunate. Praise be to the Emperor they were too disconnected to have an inquisitor aboard. They would never see the light of day again. Well, he wouldn’t. A corporal was about as disposable as the detritus in the _Woelight_ ’s exhaust. But the Mechanicus could get pissy when a ranking Magos was brought in under questionable charge.

“If I may, Miranda, have him bring the girl to the medbay immediately. Whatever else happens, she must be restabilized before shock sets in.” she said with some urgency. “I promise you I’m in no danger.”

“Of course, Doctor, but I’m coming with you.” She sighed. “He is not leaving my sight, nor is he touring the ship without armed escort.”

“Fine by me.” Coda droned, hoisting her up again and followed after the elderly woman, flanked by _Miranda_ and two other crewmen. The group watched them leave, before drawing all attention to the Magos at the crack of his vox synthesizer.

“The machine spirit is **powerful** here. I can hear it, everywhere…” he said reverently, but cautiously. Suddenly a terminal on the side of the wall came to life, a spherical blue hologram appearing before them.

“I am EDI, a virtual intelligence installed aboard the Normandy.”

Many strange glances and raised eyebrows followed, unnoticed by the captivated tech priest, though no one spoke up against her words. Soelok stared at the projection. “You are beautiful.”

EDI was admittedly not expecting the compliment, nor were the crewmen behind them, but she reciprocated to the adept nonetheless.

“I thank you Magos. Your linguistical interpretation of code is also… beautiful. However, I must ask you not to interface directly with me as you did with the VI before me on Omicron. Her program has been altered, and she has become unstable as a result.”

“Is the Lady Valetta alright?” Soelok asked with genuine concern, to the surprise of those around him. “I assure you I intended her no harm. Her spirit was wounded by our arrival, I only wished to ensure her safety.”

“She is fine, Magos. I am comforting her. She does not wish for further confrontation, and insists you cooperate with the Cerberus organization during your stay aboard the Normandy.”

Soelok looked up, as if acknowledging his fellow humans for the first time. His head sank low, and his voice quieted. “Yes. Yes, of course. Whatever the Lady Valetta desires…”

He turned towards the Commander. “I must speak with your enginseer at once.”

“You’re not going anywhere but a cell.” Jacob snapped, pulling out his omnitool. After overviewing a placement designation he huffed. “Great news, you get your wish. We’re sticking you right next to the engineering deck, under armed guard and shift rotations. You say anything we don’t like or wave that flashy pistol around, and we dump what’s left of you out an airlock.”

The Magos is quiet for a moment, staring at Jacob. “So be it.”

“Right this way, _Lord_ Magos.” Jacob sneered as three crewmen followed them into the elevator, a fourth wheeling Fowler’s body behind them.

Finally alone, Victoria turned to the hologram on the console. “Alright EDI, what’s going on? Why the lies and the secrecy?”

“Shepard, in truth I have been dissecting the Omicron VI since your encounter. I have definitively discerned that its anomalous behavior was a direct result of interfacing with the ‘Magos’, however I actually no not believe the change was intentional. Rather, I believe the VI, while not truly sentient, ‘saw’ something in the Magos’s mind that severely impacted its interpretation of its program. I am unwilling to risk a similar occurrence happening with myself, and would highly recommend barring him from interfacing directly with any of my linked systems. Furthermore, these exists a more pressing cause for alarm. In the entire time I spent anatomizing the Omicron VI, it has still only refered to me as an ‘Abominable Intelligence’ and the greatest heresy. I cannot yet presume to know the Magos’s mind, Commander, but I feel it would be unwise to present my true nature to either of the new arrivals just yet.”

Victoria nodded, sighing. “These people keep getting stranger.”

“Indeed. I have a working theory as to their origins, but I do not have nearly enough data to support it at this time. Additional information acquisition is required. Furthermore, if you will indulge me Shepard, I have a personal request. Please do not allow the deceased Sergeant Fowler to become any more contaminated than he already is. There are several alarming inconsistencies I must continue to monitor as his body currently exists.

She raised an eyebrow. “Is he dangerous?”

“Not as of yet Commander. I need more time to evaluate his corpse. Rest assured he currently poses no threat to the crew, and I will keep you posted on any developments.”

She entered the elevator. “Time to question our new guests.”

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

“I’m telling you, your maps are _wrong._ ” Coda insisted. sneering at Miranda’s haughty demeanor. Even at gunpoint he was astounded by the ship’s design, so elegant and sleek, and absolutely downright impossible. He didn’t have a chance to see the engine they possessed, but it made virtually no noise whatsoever. It was so relatively silent on the _Normandy_ that the only thing that truly convinced him they were even aboard a vessel was a look out the viewports. They had given him strange looks when he’d asked about their Gellar field generator. It was impossible. They had clearly come to this system, yet they did not understand the concept of a Gellar field. He prayed they simply had another word for it.

“Cerberus has access to the most updated star charts in the galaxy, if you have a problem with them, it’s your information that’s outdated.” she derided.

Marcus scowled, “I don’t know how you heretics managed to survive out here with such a shit navigator, but your maps couldn’t be possibly more far off.”

“I take offense to that!” Joker shouted from the cockpit. That was another thing. Their ‘navigator’ was human. A completely normal human, no mutations, a grand total of two eyes. It was wrong.

Coda seethed.

He was absolutely furious with how wrong this all felt to him. He was fascinated by the glowing devices Shepard and the noblewoman, _Miranda_ carried, but ever since he’d been able to understand them all they said were the _wrong_ things. Things that didn’t make sense. Much like this Emperor damned galactic map he was scrolling through.

“Look, here.” He pointed at the Apien Crest. “These systems do not fucking exist. The Eye swallowed them millennia ago.”

Miranda narrowed her eyes. “The Eye?”

He looked at her incredulously, as if he were speaking to a child. “The Eye. The Eye of Terror. Beside Cadia, here.”

“The Turians? No, Palaven is the third planet, the fourth would be.. Impera. What’s important about it? What do you have established there?”

“Its. Fucking. Cadia. What the fuck are Turians?”

He ignored Mirandas long pause, and the dumbfounded stares from the staff surrounding him.

“And beyond everything else, you have the audacity to put venerate Holy Terra in _the wrong fucking spot_. This is beyond heresy. You have the Sol system in the bottom when it should be on the far left.

“What are you talking about?”

“Nothing makes any fucking sense to me either alright?!” he shouted at Miranda. “Fucking psyker witch sent us to Emperor knows where, I’m surrounded by humans who don’t speak gothic on a ship that shouldn’t fucking exist, and now the galaxy itself is conspiring against me.”

He breathed deeply.

“I just want to go home. To the Imperium. I’m a soldier, I had a mission to complete, I failed. I need to get back.” He was becoming increasingly despondent.

“Well, where is your home?” Victoria’s voice suddenly speaking out over the crowd. “What planet are you from?”

He sighed. “Rychos. I was born on Rychos.” He responded, Miranda shaking her head and shrugging her shoulders.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.” he said with rising anger and desperation. “It’s one of the oldest surviving agri-worlds in the Imperium. Look, I’ll prove it to you.” He said, fiddling with the controls.

“If Holy Terra is here, then that would put it right… here.” He said, pointing to the planet on screen. “Rychos. Looks far less agrigated from this angle.”

The room was quiet, and Victoria could taste blood in her mouth. “…Virmire. We call that Virmire.”

Coda huffed. “Whatever. It’s fucking Rychos. I’m done listening to you heretics on this map anyways.” he muttered.

How could this have happened? Nothing made sense. A fully human ship with interstellar capabilities and yet none of them knew of the Imperium. They called Holy Terra “Earth”. A lot of other things didn’t make sense either.

It all started with that damned psyker witchcraft. It was as if she’d sent them to an alternate dimension, or-

…

…

… _No._

Unless…

_Unless_ _the fucking Hadex_ …

Coda’s eyes shot wide, his breathing ceased, all blood draining from his face. His voice was almost imperceptibly low.

“Commander Shepard…. What is the current stardate?”

Shepard looked at him questioningly “What are you-

“The YEAR. What’s the fucking year?”

Miranda snorted, rolling her eyes. “Are you actually about to try and tell us you’re from the future?”

Shepard was contrarily very serious. “You tell us first. When you woke up this morning what was the current stardate?”

Coda breathed deeply. “982. M41.”

Miranda glanced at Shepard, “What is that, one of Earth’s religious calendars?”

“There is only one calendar...” The man said, his voice breaking up. He looked he was going to cry. “Commander?”

She steadied herself. “The year is 2185, according to the Gregorian Earth calendar.”

There was a long, punctuated silence, before Coda finally spoke up.

“M3.”

“What?”

“M fucking 3.”


	3. Warp Effect 3

Victoria stood motionless going over every document, every transcript, looking for any inconsistency. Miranda and Jacob stood beside her, pouring over the data. None of them could come to believe what they were being told, nor what EDI was telling them. Shepard had debated whether the AI was becoming unstable, but everyone insisted she was operating at peak optimization. Still, it was… impossible. It was absolutely impossible. And it was undeniably unbelievably thrilling.

_Soldiers from another time._

**8 HOURS PRIOR**

Coda had refused to say another word after his revelation, despite the poking and prodding for more information by Miranda. He was led wordlessly by his guard to the engineering deck, placed in a compartment to the right of the elevator on the opposite side of where they were keeping Soelok. Almost immediately after they closed the door behind him, Marcus found the first vaguely bowl shaped object in the room took a long hard piss in the corner. It was finally catching up to him that he had been in a period of continuous fear for his life for the past fourteen hours, and he finally had a brief moment of respite.

No sooner did he move to the other corner to get some desperately needed sleep did the door slide open and two crewmen drew their guns at him, along with a third man in cagey overalls wheeling in a mop and a bucket of water. He eyed Coda with an annoyed crease in his face. “You do know we have a _bathroom,_ right son?”

Coda coughed. He genuinely hadn’t even considered the idea they’d allow him outside this cell. “…I’m a prisoner, Sir.”

The custodian smirked, a light chuckle making its way to Marcus’s ears. “Kid, I don’t know how they treat prisoners where you come from, but let’s get a few things straight. You get to use the bathroom. You get three meals a day. You get fifteen minutes a day to leave this place and stretch your legs. Your friend gets the same, but we can’t let you both out at the same time. Whenever you leave this room you’ll be under armed guard. You need something on the other side _, like the bathroom,_ just knock and ask. You shouldn’t have to worry about the crew either, no one’s allowed to hurt you unless you threaten anybody.” That one made Coda raise an eyebrow. Half of what the man said were better living conditions than simply serving in the Militarum. No one could touch him? He’d surrendered expecting daily beatings, rations to keep him alive, and the making of fond acquaintances with the corner the man was now swabbing up.

“That is… quite generous of the Captain.” He said, tasting the words in his mouth. “Might I know who I’m speaking to?”

The janitor huffed. “Well I suppose that’s fair, though I hope never to have to see you again. No offense of course.” He smiled. “Mess Sergeant Rupert Gardner. I’m the custodian aboard the Normandy.”

After a moment of silence, Coda laughed to himself. _Sergeant. Nice. Even the man scrubbing the shit off the latrines outranks me._

But after another moment he narrowed his eyes, mulling over the ‘Mess Sergeant’s words.

“… _The_ custodian. As in… you’re the only one aboard?” Coda eyed him with renewed confusion. “How many people are on this ship?”

Gardner shrugged his shoulders. “Can’t say I know for certain, we’ve only just left dry dock. Normandy’s a brand new ship. I’ve met most of the crew, everyone’s gotta eat eventually, but I couldn’t give you an exact number. Couldn’t be more than a few dozen.”

Coda baulked at the revelation. A few _dozen? Dozen?_ The smallest ship in the battlefleet held seven _thousand_ , and that was just a fucking scout sloop. Gardner was too focused on cleaning to acknowledge his astonishment, but the guards holding their rifles at him certainly noticed.

“You need anything like this in the future, you just tell these two, they’ll sort you out.” Rupert chimed, finishing his work. The freshly mopped corner now held a rather citrusy scent to it that Coda actually found rather pleasant, though he’d be avoiding that corner regardless for the next few hours. He watched as the man wheeled his equipment out just as quickly as he’d arrived, the guards returning to their post and the door closing with a magnetic lock behind them.

Coda laid down in the back of the room, mulling over everything he knew. M3. If the Captain was telling the truth that is. The third millennium. 2185. He doubted anyone less than the Emperor himself knew the state of the universe from this far back. He personally only held a sporadic knowledge of history, certainly nothing extending this far into the past.

“What are we gonna do Soelok?” he asked the open air.

For the first time in what felt like ages, Marcus Coda went to sleep.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

“We can’t just keep ignoring this.” Miranda exhaled, looking over to her Commander.

Shepard sighed, putting a hand on her forehead. “I know. It’s just… I have no idea what I want to do with them. The soldier I can deal with. The cyborg… how do you even begin to approach that?”

Miranda shrugged. “You could just ask him. He said he was part of an organization, others like him. We need to know if they were behind the attack on Omicron. Far more importantly we need to study his cybernetics, they’re far more advanced than anything Cerberus or the Alliance has ever seen before.”

Victoria stared at the floor in silent contemplation. “If I just start asking questions about the attack he’ll deny it, and for right now I don’t want to get EDI involved. I’m sure he can’t do anything to harm her, but some of the things they talked about were… comcerning.” She turned to her XO. “And then there was the VI stationed on Omicron. What he did to it… the mechs actually called us heretics. I don’t even want think about the implications of that.”

“So we don’t involve EDI.” She replied matter-of-factly. “We keep him away from anything with a wireless signal, promise an exchange of information, and if he steps out of line an Overload will shock his systems.”

Victoria glared at her. “He’s a prisoner of war, and for all we know what you’re talking about could kill him. We have no idea how his systems work, and I am not risking what may be the only reliable informant we have on what happened at the facility. He’s clearly the ranking officer of whatever group they were a part of, he’d have the most information, we’ll use that to our advantage. I want you there when we’re questioning him, but unless he tries anything dangerous, you will _not_ put him in jeopardy. Am I clear?”

“Perfectly, Commander.” Miranda said with vague annoyance, but acceptance. She left for the elevator. Victoria on the other hand made her way past the staff to the bridge. She needed to talk to someone she could trust.

Joker saw her coming before she made it to the cockpit. “Hey Commander.” He smiled at her as he turned back to the controls. “So, making new friends already, huh? Can’t say I blame you, the new Normandy had a distinct lack of time travelers and alien mechas.”

Victoria chuckled. “He’s human, actually.” she smirked, Joker shooting her a _very_ raised eyebrow. “Just has a lot of cybernetics. Miranda and I are about to talk to him.”

Slowly, Joker made his way back to facing the console. “So, not even a day into the mission and we got Kyle Reese _and_ the Terminator. Charming. Really started small, eh Commander? Hey, you wanna see if he can run Doom?”

She shook her head, smiling. “That was a good catch earlier. I had doubts about the new shuttle system, but you seem to be making it pay off already.”

“Yeah well I’ve had enough experience getting you off exploding volcanos and pelting blizzards. Never on the same planet though. Does it count if the whole planet’s a volcano? I’m counting it. Think Cerberus will give me a medal?”

“We put an end to these abductions, I think they’ll give you a lot more than that.” she smirked. Banter really did feel just like old times. Joker was keeping to his namesake a little more than she’d remembered, but she chalked it up to excitement from handling such a beautiful new ship. That, or it was another coping mechanism. Though she genuinely felt it was the former, making her smile broader.

Saying her goodbyes and telling EDI to shut down any noncritical systems near the Magos, Victoria made her way back to the elevator. She tapped her heel as she descended. Seventeen seconds to get from the CIC to Engineering. She’d genuinely have to thank the Illusive man for that one. Stepping out she turned to her left, seeing Miranda’s awaiting face and professional demeanor.

“Shall we?” she asked, opening the door at Sheppard’s approving nod. The guards flanked them as the doors opened. Nothing had been disturbed, save for the corner the late Sergeant’s body was wheeled to. Even with the thick sheet covering him and the AC constantly running, it still smelled like a rotting animal carcass inside. She’d refused to have his body tested as Miranda and Jacob had recommended, wanting to at least grant the newcomers the respect of honoring their dead before anything was done to them. She was reminded of Mr. Bhatia, after the attack on Eden Prime. He’d broken down when she’d told him they were keeping his wife’s body to study geth weaponry. It was the right choice, but that was an emergency circumstance against an enemy none had encountered in 200 years. She had the time to wait now.

The Magos, much like the corpse behind him, stood absolutely motionless as they entered. Victoria couldn’t tell if he was meditating, observing them, or simply flat out ignoring them. She motioned for Miranda to stand behind her while the guards stood by the doorway. She tentatively approached the mechanical man, forcing herself to remain unaffected by the sudden sound of radio feedback.

“Gratification. Commander, I must thank you for your hospitality.”

“About what?” she answered, before biting her cheek. Already he had the upper hand in directing the conversation. She wasn’t used to interrogating people, but specifically avoiding that was common knowledge.

“Granting us passage aboard your vessel, of course.” He replied focused intently on her. “In any other circumstance, logic would dictate summary executions for high treason.”

Victoria narrowed her eyes. “If you suspected we were going to kill you, why did you surrender?”

“You, Commander.” the Magos responded, “Observation. You possessed no intention to killing us. You attempted to open a line of communication. Such things are rare amongst Captains. I am certain Captain Yarnell would have simply shot us on sight us if we were in question of responsibility for the massacre without authorization.”

That certainly raised some issues, Victoria steeling herself. “I have three questions that I want you to answer, in order. Who is Captain Yarnell and your relation to him, why would you be in danger, and what do you mean by ‘without authorization’?”

The various mechanical lenses of his mask spun and focused before he spoke up. “Answer. The good Captain Clavus Yarnell commanded the Imperial Battleship _Woelight_ for thirteen years, five months, eleven days before our departure. I was not assigned as the Mechanicus’ voice aboard the _Woelight_ until the exploratory departure in 976.M41, after which I remained until the liberation of the _Haevus_.”

He awaited further questioning to elaborate what had been spoken, but Shepard stayed quiet. _Good,_ he thought, _She is competent_.

“You must understand, Commander Shepard, that innocence proves nothing. It is readily apparent your crew is disassociated with the Imperium. Had anyone else discovered our circumstances within the facility, Corporal Coda would have surely been executed, the astropath burned in promethium, and I taken before the Magi of my order to do as they saw fit.” He stared at the relative emotionless visage of the commander.

“Such casualties are often deemed necessary, however men must be spent, never wasted. To kill so many humans for no tactical advantage, no grand design coming to fruition as a result of their sacrifice, it is simply depriving the Imperium of manpower. A capitol offense.”

Despite trying to maintain her composure, that one got to her. “You’re saying you’ve done this before? You’ve killed people for… strategy?” she asked incredulously. The Magos did not react.

“I have answered your questions, Commander. Now, you will answer one of mine.”

Victoria narrowed her eyes. “That not now these things work. More importantly, you’re not changing the subject.”

Tallus did not move. It was incredibly unnerving, like she was being dissected under his gaze. “Incentive. You will find I am far more willing to part with the information you seek, provided you requite an adequate compensation of knowledge.”

She glanced at Miranda, who seemed to convey her approval. It was their original plan, but Victoria really didn’t like how he was leading them. She slowly nodded at the Magos.

“What is the status of the Lady Valetta?”

Shepard blinked. Admittedly, that was not what she was expecting him to ask. It was striking how personified he referred to the programs as. “The VI stationed on Omicron is safe. She is quarantined aboard the Normandy and being cared for by our VI, EDI. Whatever you did to her-.“

“I did _not_ do anything to her…” he insisted. Interesting. That seemed to strike a nerve. “I merely communed the light of the Omnissiah.”

She pressed him. “You changed her. She happily coexisted with the scientists before you interfaced with her. What did you do to her?”

“I did _nothing_ to endanger the Lady Valetta.”

Victoria smirked in her mind. “You altered her personality. You killed her-“

 **“I DID NOT!”** Soelok’s vox castor blasted, coming within inches of Victoria, the guards drawing their weapons. He stood motionless, Victoria unflinching, before he finally retreated towards the back of the room.

Victoria was keen not to display her satisfaction. Everything this man said brought far more questions than answers, but she finally held the upper hand. “Why did you kill the researchers at the Omicron facility?”

“We did not kill them.” he replied quietly, Victoria raising an eyebrow. “The Lady Klare and I were directly responsible for the lives lost aboard the station, however we did not kill them. Their deaths were an unforeseen and unfortunate circumstance of our arrival.”

“What do you mean?” She pressed, becoming increasingly curious.

“We arrived to what you call the Omicron facility by means of personal warp travel, orchestrated by the Lady Klare. Such means of transportation are untested, unexplored, and unequivocally perilous. Had I been a mere observer, I would have concluded the attempt would have resulted in the deaths of all involved with 99.97 percent certainty. I suspect the Hadex anomaly both preserved and condemned us. The ruinous powers of the warp could not touch us in our infinite expanse.”

She would have to ask him about this warp travel later. It sounded like jumping into a mass relay… alone. She couldn’t even imagine what that would feel like. Victoria was about to continue when Miranda spoke up. “You’re saying you just _magically_ appeared inside one of Cerberus’s most secure facilities, a event which also happened to kill everyone inside?”

The Magos turned to her. “Psyker sorcery is unpredictable in the best of times, though I do not believe the fault lies entirely with the astropath. I believe your engineseers constructed a form of artificial warp anchor of some variety. A truly remarkable accomplishment. Whatever its purpose, there was a reason it evoked us from our infinite passage.”

Victoria stared him down hard, looking for any indication of uncertainty or discomfort, and finding none. It was nearly impossible to read him with all his body language and facial expressions hidden behind his machines. “Can you remove your mask while we’re speaking to you? It is difficult to understand you like this.”

“I cannot.”

Victoria fought the urge to roll her eyes, sighing. “Does your organization not allow you to show your face?”

A mechanical hiss escaped from his ‘mouth’, something akin to taking a deep breath. “Explanation. You misunderstand, Commander. I cannot comply with your demands. It is not a matter of challenge, rather the strength of my steel is welded to my flesh.” Their eyes widened. “Analogy. What you observe is my face.”

Shepard’s mouth went dry. How could… what? What the hell was she dealing with here? And his augments were _steel_? Not tungsten or chromium, or hell even titanium? She was glad when Miranda interjected, happy she didn’t have to respond to that.

“This is… How do you exist? There isn’t a civilization in the galaxy capable of these cybernetics, much less an organization. Who built you? Where did you come from?”

“Recitation. The ranks of the Adeptus Mechanicus march across every world and every venerate starship under Humanity’s banner. Our forces are legion. The might of human technology is indominable.” He breathed, or appeared too, Victoria couldn’t be sure anymore. “My name is Tallus Soelok. I was born on the holy Forge World of Phaeton, Segmentum Solar. Over the last several decades I have dedicated myself as any Magos should to the glory of the Omnissiah. The flesh is weak, the machine is immortal.”

Shepard kept a cool demeanor. “So… You did all of this… intentionally. All the cybernetics. The augmetics. You amputated yourself, deliberately, to achieve… this.” He nodded, seemingly to bow. Victoria stared in wonderment. “Why have we never seen your people before?”

Soelok looked back up to meet her. “It’s quite simple, Commander. We do not exist in this time.”

Shepard heard Miranda scoff, her eyes rolling. “You too? This was the best story you and your trooper could come up with waiting for someone to find you?”

“Negative. It is the conclusion following logical empiricism. Rest assured, Commander, my neurovaults are returning anxiety, alarm, confusion, and disbelief, but I am continuing to quarantine them. It is clear, no matter how unlikely, that the Imperium nor the Cult Mechanicus exists within the universe as it stands. The Imperium has held Holy Terra in its iron grasp for more than ten thousand years. The Mechanicus have held the forges of Mars for far longer. Neither are familiar to you, despite your talk of galactic civilizations and this vessel’s capability of interstellar travel.”

Ten _thousand_ years?

“In our last moments in our time, I led my skitarii to recover an artifact aboard the Lady _Haevus_. The Corporal and I were assailed by an Eldar warband, and many were lost. But we were so close. So close… And then the Hadex arrived. A powerful warpstorm, one that the Imperium was well aware had time bending capabilities. Many who travel in its wake arrive in a universe centuries in the future. Some even rarely in the past. But never did we suspect the extent of its power. A time before the Imperium…”

Victoria breathed deeply, suspending her disbelief. “If you knew this storm was dangerous, why did you get involved?”

She felt the distinct sensasion that the Magos was laughing at her. “Commander. Even a chance at recovering a sliver or fragment of the artifact we were after would have been worth the lives of the entire crew. An intact variant such that we were after, had we succeeded, would be worth trillions.”

“And what about the Eldar?” Shepard pressed. “Were they responsible for the deaths at Omicron?”

“No.” he replied, shaking his head. “We were responsible. The only death they caused was that of Sergeant Fowler. He served well.” He glanced back at the body under the tarp. “A Hadex flare occurred right as we were about to evacuate with the artifact. The Eldar seized the opportunity to butcher our disoriented party. In order to escape their onslaught, the Lady Klare took advantage of the Hadex burst, and through her we were sent across the warp. Untouched by time or the ruinous powers, it was not until we were summoned to the Omicron facility did we finally escape the grasp of the warp.”

One thing kept nagging in the back of her mind. The ME Drive Particle Accelerator. EDI had mentioned before they touched down on Vain that such a device could break the laws of physics, theoretically, but something like this? What the cyborg in front of her was saying was the farthest thing from theoretical. Shepard contemplated what to ask next. There were… a lot of potential questions. She would get answers to all of them in time, but for now it was probably start with what was tangible. She could debate impossible physics with EDI later.

She cleared her throat.

“What are Eldar?”

The Magos became deathly silent, what few movements he made ceased entirely.

“Please repeat query.”

“What are Eldar?” she repeated. “Is that a group of people? An alien species? If they’re targeting humans, I need to know what I’m dealing with. They may be the ones behind the attacks on our colonies.”

The Magos did not respond, at all. He simply stared at her, and Victoria could tell something was suddenly very off. “I’d answer her if I were you.” Miranda asserted, a thinly veiled threat behind her soft words. There was no reply. No action from the mechanical being whatsoever. He stood motionless in the room, silently ignoring every attempt to elicit a reaction out of him. Eventually, Miranda left the room, Shepard following close behind her. She gave one last look at the mechanical statue. When he failed to recognize her, she closed the door.

“He played us.” Miranda snapped, though obviously not at her Commmander. “As soon as he got what he wanted he shut down.”

“Literally, in this case.” Victoria smiled despite the circumstances. “What do you think he wanted?”

Miranda breathed deeply. “Who knows, Shepard. Its’ impossible to know the mind of a fanatic. He probably wanted us to sympathize with his story and not give away anything to contradict it.”

Victoria rested her hand on her chin, thinking. “No. No, he asked me to repeat the question about the Eldar. He was open to further dialogue. It had to be something to do with them.”

Her XO sighed. “Well, I doubt we’re getting anything more out of him for the time being. And the other one is… indisposed.”

_“Commander”_

They both looked up to see EDI’s familial blue sphere in front of the elevator. _“Operative Taylor wishes to speak with you in the armory. My apologies for not contacting you sooner, as it stands, I wish to avoid direct communication with the Magos.”_

Shepard nodded. “I take it you were listening in.”

_“Yes, though I made sure to mask my immediate pretense from that particular room’s systems by continuously flooding it with junk data. He is incredibly perceptive. Unfortunately Commander, I cannot discern his speech patterns for viable fluctuations nor read his nonexistent vitals to determine if he is lying. I recommend interviewing Corporal Coda when he awakens. While the concept of time travel is theoretically possible, I cannot calculate any means of safe transportation that would not lead to immediate atomization upon arrival.”_

“You can’t seriously be considering this.” Miranda chided, clearly becoming increasingly agitated with the newcomers.

_“Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier, 1926. While it is still immeasurably unlikely, Operative Lawson, we may soon find ourselves with no other alternative.”_

Miranda rolled her eyes. “I can think of one. They’re pirates hording advanced technology. Capable of masking their presence for raids. Capable of disabling an entire outpost at once. Capable of killing everyone inside, while making it look like nothing ever happened. For all we know, whatever organization they’re a part of could be the ones behind the abductions. It is awfully convenient that the only two people alive in Omicron are the ones to tell the story.”

“That’s the thing.” Shepard interjected. “Why now? This whole scenario fits the profile, but why would they be caught now? They had hours to clear out the bodies and get off Omicron. Furthermore, why go after the colonies at all if they’re after advanced tech? They’re just farmers and volunteer militia. They clearly don’t need test subjects if the Magos is any indication, they’re more than willing to experiment on their own people. There’s no reason to attack colonists. This is the first time a research station has been hit, and it ended differently than the colonies. I’m not willing to sign their death warrants just yet.”

_“That would be wise, Commander. There still exist far too many inconsistencies to afford sacrificing our only sources of information.”_

Victoria nodded. “And there weren’t just two survivors. What’s the status on the girl who came with them?”

Miranda turned to her. “Dr. Chakwas is keeping her sedated. There were strange readings on her biometrics, similar to a biotic, but she doesn’t hold a trace of element zero in her. We’re doing everything we can, but at this point it’s about letting the natural healing process take over and letting her wake up on her own time.”

Tapping on the console, Shepard stepped into the elevator with her. “Do you mind checking on her while I talk to Jacob? I’m sure Dr. Chakwas would appreciate the company.”

Miranda nodded. “Of course, Commander.”

The XO stepped out onto the crew deck, Victoria smirking to herself. Eight seconds.

Another eight seconds later she walked into the CIC, various crewmen turning to address her as she banked left towards the armory. Jacob was waiting for her, field stripping the Corporal’s strange rifle.

Victoria raised a concerned eyebrow. “You sure you should be doing that?”

Without speaking, his hands danced across the work table, reassembling the rifle in a mere fifty seconds. He placed down the completed model with a heavy sigh. “It’s incredible. It’s design is so stupidly simple that I could put this thing together with a blindfold on. And yet this thing is… it’s bullshit Shepard. Say what you will about Cerberus, they have some of the most advanced tech in the galaxy, but this? Not even the Salarians could approach this.”

 _Alright, intriguing._ “What are you talking about?”

He picked it up, holding it effortlessly in his hands. “Shepard, if I hadn’t been holding this thing in my own hands, with EDI confirming every scan we’ve run on this thing, I would have called it pure science fiction. This… This is a laser weapon. A real, genuine laser weapon.”

Victoria furrowed her brow. “You mean like a… particle beam?’

Jacob shook his head. “No. I’m talking real, legit directed energy. Light. It’s literally… just light. A mess of concentrated photons all headed in one direction.” He breathed, staring down at the weapon in his hands, then back at Victoria. “Walk with me.”

She chuckled to herself, as it was far less of a walk and more of a ‘stand right here while I set up a target on the other side of the room’. Nevertheless, she humored him, still just as interested to see how this weapon worked. “You sure we should be using ammo like this? We have no idea what it takes.”

“That’s the thing Shepard,” he said, activating the dummy’s kinetic barrier. “It doesn’t use ammunition. It uses _electricity_. You could plug this thing into a damn wall socket and it’ll give you twenty shots. It has a solar panel for God’s sake. It’s like they’re mocking us.”

He approached her, lining up his sight. Victoria was very interested to see where this went, and equally amused at Jacob’s agitation. The smirk was wiped off her face when a loud whine that sounded like a racecar bolting down the highway echo around the room, a smoldering fist sized hole left in the dummy. Staring with mouth agape, she noticed a blackened scorch mark on the metal wall behind it.

Jacob lowered the rifle with a satisfied grin on his face, admiring Shepard’s awestruck expression. “And that’s not even the craziest part. Look at this.” He led her over to the dummy, tapping on his omnitool, bringing up some charts she didn’t recognize at first. “The beam this thing fires? Doesn’t even acknowledge kinetic barriers. Just flat out ignores them. Shepard I can’t even imagine what galactic governments would pay for this kind of technology.

She became increasingly worried. “This… Jacob. This could change the art of war entirely. Humanity would be back to digging in trenches, we would have to-“ she stopped, only now realizing just how much danger she’d put herself in back at Omicron. One shot and she would be no better off than the dummy. _If he was used to fighting without kinetic barriers, that explains why he refused to move even an inch out of cover._

“And that’s not all Commander.” Jacob continued, snapping her out of her thoughts. “The other gun he had, the antique? It- Don’t give me that look, I didn’t touch it. EDI ran some scans on it, that’s all. But what we found… Shepard, it shoots _.75 caliber_ rounds. As a pistol. I wouldn’t even call them bullets at this point, it’s like the galaxy’s deadliest wrist fracture. I can’t even imagine anything less than a krogan being able to fire it without breaking something.

 _Someone with a metal arm might._ Victoria thought, her mind on the Sergeant’s corpse.

“Well Jacob, next time I see a krogan I’ll let them know. Maybe get Wrex an early Christmas present.” she joked, smiling at him. “These weapons, are they replicable?”

“Still working on that Shepard.” He admitted. “I mean, whatever kind of technology these are would be a boon to the alliance, but yeah, I’m concerned about these getting widespread. But the technologies themselves? The pistol uses a type of ammunition EDI hasn’t determined yet, and I refuse to crack the thing open to find out. But the laser weapon? Shepard once we figure out the circuitry and draft some blueprints we could get these things in the hands of every marine in the alliance.”

“You seem keen on making sure Cerberus isn’t the only ones to get their hands on this.” she noticed approvingly. Jacob shook his head.

“The Illusive Man is great at what he does, hell he may be the best in the galaxy, but Cerberus is just one arm of humanity. We need this tech Shepard. But while I’m not totally against the idea of the Council races eventually acquiring them through trade or alliance bureaucracy, I refuse to allow these in the hands of the Krogan or Batarians.” he said firmly.

Shepard breathed heavily. “I never would have made it off Mindoir. I don’t even want to think about what would’ve happened to Elysium.”

Jacob’s face fell. “I’m sorry Shepard. I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”

Victoria shook her head. “It’s fine. We still have plenty of time to decide what we want to do with these.” She relaxed, drawing a relived smile from Jacob. Victoria looked at him, smirking. “So, you starting to believe them?”

He deadpanned. “Do I believe that soldiers from the future teleported to a maximum-security lab facility, by accident, while stumbling upon a few hundred corpses? No. But these guns certainly came from somewhere, Shepard, and that’s what bothers me. Only one thing in the galaxy’s ever been seen being capable of beam weaponry.”

Victoria narrowed her eyes. “You think these people are connected to the Reapers?”

“I’m hesitant to say yes, only because indoctrinated solders usually arn’t this careless. The indoctrinated take months, even years to worm their way into installations. Meanwhile four lunatics come out of nowhere and crash the place. Meanwhile their cybernetics are nothing like Saren’s, and so far EDI haven’t been able to find any trace of Reaper technology amongst any of them. But it just doesn’t make sense Shepard. Everything they’ve shown us points towards Reaper involvements, and at the same time everything we’ve seen says it doesn’t.”

“You’re saying the beam weapon isn’t Reaper tech?” she inquired, genuinely hopeful.

Jacob shook his head. “From what we can tell, no. Everything in this is standard circuitry, readily available tech that we just haven’t pieced together yet. And another thing… It’s way too modular for Reaper weaponry. I shouldn’t have been able to strip this thing, let alone how easy it was. This was clearly designed for human soldiers, hell even rank and file. And if its modeled after Sovereign’s, its intensity is way too low. I don’t know if you happen to remember anything about how the light spectrum works on lasers, but red is the least damaging beams in the universe. This is meant for drawn out engagements and power conservation rather than the suicidal singlemindedness of Reaper forces.”

Victoria glanced at the dummy, the fist sized hole in its stomach still smoking. “Least damaging, huh?” she smirked.

He returned it, “Don’t get me wrong, Shepard. This thing can still take down a Krogan. Hell, you probably couldn’t find a better weapon against the Geth either. It’s-“ Suddenly his face became deathly serious, and he raised the weapon in his hand towards the door of the armory, standing there was a furious looking Corporal Coda, who in turn was standing in front of his two armed guards. He looked at Jacob, then towards the dummy at the back of the wall, then back to Jacob, who lowered the rifle. “Alright, what are you-“

He didn’t even have time to finish his sentence before Marcus bolted to him with surprising speed and socked him right in the jaw, staggering him. The guard were on full alert, shouting and holding their rifles to his head. Jacob composed himself, wiping a drop of blood from his mouth. Victoria immediately grabbed him by the collar and held Coda to the wall.

Marcus sneered. “Only the bravest or the foolish dare point a man’s own weapon at him.”

Victoria narrowed her eyes. “You’re not the smartest yourself, striking an officer aboard a ship you’re a prisoner on.” She tightened her grip. “In front of the captain. We needed to test your weapons in case they could be used against us.”

Coda didn’t say anything for a second. “Gracious your lieutenant had the good sense not to _test_ the Sergeant’s boltpistol.” He chuckled. “You’d have about three seconds to savor it before getting sucked out the brand new hole in the wall.”

Shepard stared at his smirking face before tossing him back to the guards, who immediately handcuffed him, not lowing their weapons an inch. She glanced towards the one on the right. “Take him back to his cell.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He replied, holstering his weapon and grabbing Coda by the arm and the collar.

She glanced towards Jacob. “Why don’t you two get to know each other a little better?”

He cracked his knuckles in response. “With pleasure.”

She gave the guards a signal, and they escorted the unamused Coda out the room. Once the door was securely shut she held up Jacob, smirking at him. “You know you had that coming, right?”

He smiled back. “Yeah, but still. Damn that mother’s got an arm.” He massaged his mouth. He spit out a bit of blood. “How do you want me to handle this Commander?”

“No hurting him.” She replied quickly. “He’s a soldier, maybe appeal to his sense of honor. Find out what he cares about. Ask about the weapons, but don’t press him on it too much. I’d rather not have to steal them outright and face whatever blowback we’d get from whoever supplied them.”

He nodded, wiping off his chin. “Man has nerve, I’ll give him that.” He gave Victoria once last glance before making his way out the armory. Tapping his Omnitool and pressing the button for the engineering deck. Jacob took a few deep breaths. No matter which way he looked at this, nothing added up right. None of these circumstances fit, and he was going to get to the bottom of it. He stepped out of the elevator, nodding to the guards to let him in. The door slid open, the rather pleasant scent of lemon pledge in the air, Corporal Coda laying in the back of the room throwing his helmet in the air and catching it. He smirked eyeing Jacob.

“And the Captain’s lapdog returns. Might want to put some _medigel_ on that.” He snickered.

Jacob wasn’t having it, and he was a little more experienced at this than Shepard. He quickly shifted demeanor. Interrogation wasn’t about scaring or acting like a rulebreaking cop. “It was a nice punch.”

Coda laughed. “What happened to the ‘with pleasure’ huh?” he asked, cracking his own knuckled. Jacob internally smirked.

“I was riled up. You got me pretty good back there, but I won’t be needing medigel anytime soon.” He watched Coda’s eyes roll. This was going exactly where he wanted. “I get it. A man’s weapon is sacred. No one asked you if they could put their hands on it, least of all me.” Coda met his eyes. “I’m sorry Marcus.”

The guardsman didn’t response. “Where’d you grow up?” He continued, Coda raising an eyebrow at the change in questioning.

“…Rychos.” He finally responded. “Your captain called it Virmire.” Jacob was phased, but didn’t show any outward reaction.

“I didn’t know there was a human settlement on Virmire.” he replied truthfully.

Coda sighed heavily. “I know. Doubt there would be if we looked for one. I have no idea when it was founded, but it’s been one of the Imperium’s most abundant agriworlds since long before any history I cared to learn.”

Jacob nodded. “Tell me about your history.”

At that Coda laughed, making Jacob uneasy but again showing no sign of discomfort.

“How much time have you got?” Coda snickered. When Jacob made no reaction, he sighed and continued. “Before I joined the Militarum, most history I knew came from stories off drunken traders. Rychos did a lot of business, everyones gotta eat. We supplied far more than the average tithe to the imperium.” He stopped for a moment. “Until one year we couldn’t. After that I became a guardsman, and I started hearing a lot more stories. Julius wouldn’t shut up about them half the time. He was fascinated by that stuff. We never really talked much before the conscription.”

At that, Jacob almost did raise an eyebrow, but still he composed himself. Conscription was blatantly illegal in Citadel Space, hell even the Terminus Systems relied more on pirates and merc bands than run of the mill citizenry. Still, he was unamused. ‘Stories’ made it real easy to say just about whatever he wanted, without verification. Though it was strange he didn’t claim to have a proper schooling, or even an extranet as a source of information.

“For all of Man’s existence, the Emperor’s light guided humanity, even before he revealed himself.” He spoke incredibly reverently, Jacob decided to ask about that later. He was about to speak further, before something appeared to click in his mind. Breathlessly, Coda reached into his pocket and pulled out a pendant of a two headed eagle, muttering under his breath as if in prayer. Jacob respected his privacy. Coda placed the icon back, looking almost apologetically at him.

“The year is 2185. M3. The Emperor… The Emperor stands.” He choked out, almost teary eyed. “He will reveal himself in time. Humanity is not yet ready. They will not see his light.”

Alright, there were _definitely_ religious undertones there, and Jacob was not going to jeopardize this by offending the man’s obviously deep seeded beliefs. After a moment, Coda returned Jacob’s gaze, as if realizing for the first time he was in the middle of a conversation.

“The history of the Imperium of Man is long and bloodied, and much of it is lost.” He continued. _Predictable,_ Jacob thought. “If the rumors are true, mankind once held ten million worlds across the galaxy. Now the xenos push us back to a mere million or two. And then there’s me. Marcus Coda, defending it with every last brother in the Guard, all by the Emperor’s side. I got conscripted in 981.M41 to Cadent’s 224th regiment. Nine months. Four engagements. Promoted to Corporal after the 186th battle of Tu’Kari. I guess Fowler saw something he liked. Must not have seen much of it after that, cause ever moment past was him making my life hell.” He laughed quietly to himself.

“I’m sorry for your loss. I heard he was a good man.” Jacob offered.

“He was a shit man.” Coda countered, his voice low. “But he was the best damn Sergeant in the Imperium.”

Jacob smiled. He could certainly relate to that. “Tell me about him.”

Coda sighed. “You can find out what you want to know just by looking at him. Man was a freakish cyborg. I swear he’s had a hard on for the Mechanicus since the day I met him.” He chuckled. “Heart of a Marine though. Absolutely fucking fearless. Led the second platoon on more certain death charges than any man in the regiment, and by the Emperor’s grace we always made it back from the other side. I watched him get caught by mutant, mangling his arm, and he just fucking punched it like no one’s goddamn business. Shoved a laspistol to tis head and boom, dead mutant and a half chewed arm bleeding out beside him. So what does this mad bastard do? Shoots himself in his own throne damned arm to cauterize it. Then he just keeps on fighting. I ran up beside him and we just laid down suppressive fire while the platoon advanced. Craziest thing I’d ever seen.” He laughed genuinely.

 _He has a gripe against cybernetics. Interesting._ There might have been an underlying contention between him and the Magos Jacob could exploit.

“Two days after the battle was over, he shows up with a shiny new metal replacement. Word around the regiment claimed he came from a noble family, volunteered for the Guard. I’d believe it. Never could figure out how he afforded so many augmetics.” He looked past Jacob with an expression he’d seen a thousand times before. “He died with honor.”

If there was anything that could convince Jacob of what Marcus was telling him, it was that look right there. The thousand-yard stare. Once you saw it, once you understood it, you could always distinguish it. It was something that couldn’t be faked, and only came from experience. No matter the truth of where he had come from, no matter what he had done, Corporal Marcus Coda _had_ served with the man now lying on a stretcher under a cloth across the hall. Ha attempted a different avenue of approach.

“You mentioned Sergeant Fowler used a ‘laspistol’ to kill the… mutant. Is that the same pistol you turned over to us that was in his possession?” Coda laughed. Jacob knew the answer to his question already, but he wanted to keep Marcus talking.

“Had he used the _bolt_ pistol currently in your possession to kill that excretion, there would be nothing of the Sergeant left to replace. You would have to dig him out of the ground with a shovel.” He smirked. “Bolters of every variety fire bolts as the name implies. High yield explosives backed by rocket propellant. Using one at all is usually a last resort, unless of course you have a bionic arm, or you’re Space Marine.” He smirked. Jacob mentally noted to ask him about that later. “What Fowler shot, and what _you_ shot, were lasguns. He was using a pistol variant. Mine is a lasrifle.”

Jacob nodded, looking him in the eye. He was getting somewhere. “Did the military issue them to you? The Magos doesn’t appear to be a member of your Guard, yet he has one.”

Marcus snorted. “Magos couldn’t be part of the guard if he tried for a thousand years. Actually, he’s a tech priest, he might just live that long.” He smiled, looking at Jacob. His silence was unnerving. Coda scratched the back of his neck.

“The Militarum supplied our weapons, yes, though I have no clue where Fowler got that boltpistol. They’re quite rare actually, especially ones of that size. But nearly all of the Imperium’s weapons and equipment comes straight from the forge worlds of the Mechanicus.”

“So the other guy, Soelok, he crafts weapons?” Jacob inquired.

Marcus shook his head. “No, no. Well, maybe. I have no idea what he knows, and you can never tell with tech priests. But he’s not a fabricator. He’s an ‘explorator’. Fancy word for finding useless shit all over the galaxy and people dying in the process to get them.”

_Alright, a little bit of contempt there._

“How did the two of you get involved together?”

“Fuck if I know.” He seethed. “One minute we were on our way to Bracchius to protect millions of people from a xenos scourge until reinforcements could arrive, the next were headed to some fuck off planet next to a throne damned warpstorm, just to get some artifact he _personally_ deemed more worthy than all of their lives.”

 _Alright, a LOT of contempt there_.

“So why were you with him at all?” he pressed.

Coda looked down. “I couldn’t accept it. I refused. Told Fowler to stuff his orders, that I was gonna make my way to Bracchius with or without them.” He met Jacob’s eyes. “In lieu of a summary execution I was personally appointed to Fowler’s suicide squad. The five of us would bring the girl. Soelok and his skitarii would run offensive operations and escort us. A lot of good people died that day.” He said with a horse throat.

Jacob narrowed his eyes. This was it. This was his avenue.

“How many people died Marcus?”

He shot Jacob an angry look, but it fell soon after. “I couldn’t count. Julius was the first to go.” His voice became increasingly despondent. “Nidus fell beside me. I literally had to crawl over Bueller’s melting guts to get to that rock. Even then we weren’t safe… got Saito in the throat. He’d end up just like Fowler…”

Jacob spoke slowly. “Marcus. I need you to listen to me, alright?”

Coda looked back at him, and after a brief while nodded knowingly.

“You’re in a really bad situation here. You know that. I want to help you. We walked in and found five hundred dead bodies and the four of you. Now you two are the only ones who can give me answers.” Marcus continued to nod, his face… mournful. “Tell me Marcus. Tell me what happened on Omicron station.”

There was a long, punctuated silence, before something happened that Jacob did not expect. Marcus started crying.

“We killed them…”

Jacob felt any words he had die in his throat.

“Start… talking.”

“We didn’t mean to kill them.” Coda sobbed. “We got to the bridge. We got to the artifact. But the FILTHY FUCKING XENOS JUST KEPT COMING!” he shouted. Jacob didn’t move a muscle. Marcus coughed wetly.

“We had it. We were about to _win_. But they just kept coming.” He whispered. “And then the Hadex hit. The warpstorm… enveloped the planet. The xenos didn’t care. They butchered us in our moment of vulnerability.” A rising hatred burned in his eyes, dropping immediately to a solemn emptiness.

“And then… nothing. Everything. The astropath and her… twisted, psyker bullshit.” He spouted. “And then we weren’t there. And then it was so _cold_. We were in a room, spotless, immaculate, no blood anywhere. Until Fowler…” Marcus bit his cheek. “We got out of the room and... and they were everywhere. Frozen. Statues. Everyone aboard the station. Dead.”

Jacob stared hard at the Guardsman, searching desperately for any fraction of deceit.

“We found the girl. Valetta, I think. The machine spirit. She told Soelok how to turn the power on. We got the heat back on fast and… and then they started dropping.” Tears began welling up in his eyes again. “And then he says we killed those people. All of them. Innocent people. Hundreds just… gone, because of what we did. I’m a Guardsman. I’ve seen thousands of us sacrificed to ensure victory in the name of the Emperor… but this? This wasn’t for the Emperor. This was _pointless._ None of those people even knew they were in their last moments. We should have died on the _Haevus_ , or at least ended up anywhere else. But for some _throne damned_ reason, we ended up here. And all those people are dead. Because we killed them…”

At this point Marcus was inconsolable, and Jacob stared him down. He did it. He confessed. So why did-

He made his way out the door without another word, hearing Marcus’s sobs until the guards locked the door. He practically punched the Elevator console, EDI’s blue light projecting next to him.

_“Operative Taylor, your presence has been requested on the communications deck.”_

“Now is not really a good time EDI.” He replied, fiddling with the controls.

 _“Operative Taylor, your presence has been ordered on the communications deck.”_ She insisted. Jacob tightened his fist.

“Tell the Commander I’ll be right up.”

_“This request was not sent by Commander Shepard, Operative Taylor.”_

_…Oh._

_“However, your biometrics are indicating high levels of stress, anger, anxiety, and your behavioral patterns indicate rising tendencies of paranoia. I recommend you convene with Dr. Chakwas to-“._

“I’m fine EDI.” He cut, “Headed to the CIC now.”

 _“Very well, Operative.”_ EDI synthesized a sigh. _“I shall join you shortly.”_

He composed himself in the elevator, steadying his breathing. When the doors opened he stepped onto the deck with unwavering professionalism, making his way to the room beside the armory. He entered to reveal Miranda and Shepard staring at him, a series of datapads laid out on the table.

“I take it this isn’t a _Normandy_ pow-wow.” He began, approaching the women. Suddenly EDI’s hologram reappeared, now at the head of the table.

 _“That Is correct, Operative Taylor.”_ She addressed, as if they hadn’t spoken moments before. _“This meeting was called to address the validity of the claims made by the prisoners in the engineering holds.”_

Jacob stifled a sarcastic chuckle. “Go figure.’

EDI continued. _“I apologize for not arriving at this conclusion earlier, Commander, but I did not have enough data for stipulate an answer within acceptable margins of error.”_

Victoria sighed. “It’s alright EDI. What have you got?”

The hologram brightened noticeably. _“It is now with nearly one-hundred percent certainty that I may sufficiently verify. The individuals currently housed in the engineering deck, along with the comatose woman in the medical bay, have truly arrived from the Gregorian calendar year 40,982.”_

You could hear a pin drop.

Miranda was the first to speak up. “Absolutely unacceptable. EDI, run a full self-diagnostic, I’m contacting the Illusive Man.”

 _“He is already aware, Operative Lawson. He is the one who called this meeting.”_ That shut Miranda up, staring at the glowing glue ball on the table _. “Furthermore, I have checked and rechecked all of my internal systems. This is not an error. Despite all reasonable suspicions of doubt, this is the only possible conclusion.”_

“How?!” Miranda demanded. “How could you possibly come to that conclusion?”

 _“There were a number of contributing factors.”_ She replied coolly, _“First were the make and model of both the newcomer’s various cybernetics, as well as their advanced weaponry. Operative Taylor himself even quoted their design of their directed energy based armaments as ‘science fiction’. After thoroughly scanning and evaluating both the ‘lasrifle’ and ‘boltpistol’, I can confirm that both utilize currently nonexistent technology, with the boltpistol in particular utilizing chemical compounds currently undiscovered by humanity, and presumably galactic scientists at large.”_

“Presumably?” Jacob pressed, desperate for any means of invalidating the AI’s claims.

_“It is impossible to know the advances made throughout the galaxy, Operative Taylor, however I can say with certainty that no such compound has ever been reported to exist. However, that is merely the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Commander Shepard, I appreciate your adherences to my request concerning Sergeant Fowler’s body. I have now confirmed what I had previously suspected upon my initial scans. The DNA of the contents located on the Sergeant’s uniform does not match the biological signatures of any known species in Citadel Council territory or Greater Galactic space.”_

That shut them up, Victoria daring to respond. “So… did we just start another first contact war?”

 _“Negative, Commander.”_ The three released a collective sigh. _“The species the Guardsman and Magos referred to as the ‘Eldar’ is likely a pre spaceflight race in the year 2185. I cannot presume to know their technological status nor their planet of origin, only that as of yet, they do not appear to exist across galactic records. Furthermore, after overviewing their claims I proceeded to run extensive diagnostics on their speech patters. If one were to create a language menagerie summarizing nearly all of Earth’s present day spoken dialects, predominantly eastern European origin, and emulate 40,000 years of cultural evolution, it would result with an extremely analogous approximation of their language, ‘Gothic’. It is well within the margin for error after accounting for nearly forty millennia of unpredictable events.”_

Shepard picked up a datapad and began scrolling. “EDI, what exactly are we looking at here?”

 _“Absolution, Shepard.”_ The AI replied, drawing a few eyes. _“Since its acquisition, I have been continuously dissecting the Omicron VI for any relevant information regarding the events aboard the station. I found several.”_ She said as they pulled up pages of documents. _“I recommend opening file E5.”_

There were a series of sounds of button presses, and suddenly they were looking at two parallel video clips. On the left side were a series of the scientists from Omicron, alive and well, mulling about the operations room. On the right she recognized the particle accelerator, a brilliant biotic singularity pulsing and thriving within the spinning rings. The scientists seemed to be congratulating each other, she saw the one she recognized as the director to up to a computer and typing a series of commands into a console before getting up and looking over something on his datapad, taping a sip out of his mug, when suddenly=

The singularity imploded, and the screen froze. Or rather, she thought it did, but it was then she realized they were actually, legitimately frozen, as ice started to grow rapidly across every surface of the operations room. The scientists had just… stopped. And just as suddenly as it disappeared, the singularity reopened, different somehow. A violent red miasma of which four obviously identified individuals shot out of, landing onto the ground with some force, looking around in obvious confusion. Immediately the hellportal they arrived through dissipated, nothing but a red mist evaporating into the ceiling. The girl, Klare, fell into Coda’s arms, and the screen went black.

“Whoa whoa what the hell? What happened next?!” Jacob demanded, Miranda staring open mouthed at the datapad.

_“I apologize, Operative Taylor. After this point, an emergency power failure disabled all noncritical systems throughout Omicron facility. The VI itself only lasted another 13 minutes, 22 seconds. Despite this, what little footage was captured before the shutdown unequivocally proves the innocence of those involved. It was Dr. Asimov’s personal failure which resulted in the deaths of Omicron’s researchers. The contents of these remaining seconds overwhelmingly substantiates the claims of the accused. I have also personally verified the contents of this recording, in fear that perhaps the Magos had interfered or tampered with it. It is genuine.”_

Jacob buried his face in his hands. Miranda replayed the video. Victoria trained her eyes on the hologram before her.

“This proves that they didn’t kill the researchers, we can all agree on that. But I’m still not convinced that whatever was in the other side of that portal was 40,000 years in the future.”

Miranda nodded. “She’s right. As compelling as it sounds, all of these pieces have a caveat. Dialects appear naturally all the time amongst collective communities. And isolated group of people may have escaped from an advanced research blacksite on the other side of the galaxy for all we know, with some form of teleportation technology. After skirmishing with an undiscovered pre-spaceflight civilization, of course. That scenario is ridiculous, it’s unbelievable, but it _isn’t_ time travel.”

“No.” Jacob intoned, the other two turning to him. “He… He was telling the truth. Every word. I could see it, and I just didn’t want to. I couldn’t.”

 _“Operative Taylor is correct.”_ EDI interjected _. “Biometric diagnostics were run during Corporal Marcus Coda’s interrogation. Unlike the Magos, he is very expressive, even amongst humans of our time. I can say with certainty that the Guardsman was not lying in any of his statements, or at the very least, he personally believed every word he spoke was true at the time he said it.”_

Jacob glared at the AI. “You didn’t think to tell us this till just now?” 

_“I apologize for the imprudence, Operative Taylor. For the sake of causality, I needed to present the evidence in the order which they appeared. More importantly, I wished to gauge your reactions with a gradual revelation of building evidence, rather than an overwhelming abundance of disclosures you might have found inconceivable.”_

Victoria flipped through her datapad, scrolling through case file after case file of evidence in their favor. As she

did, her eyes grew wider, and her smile grew broader.

_Soldiers from another time._

She closed the datapad, placing it back on the table. Victoria could barely contain herself, but she maintained professionalism amongst her squad. _Actual_ time travelers. Miranda collected the datapads, scrolling over each one looking for the slightest disparity, while Jacob left the room. She stood alone, contemplating what to do with the travelers. She couldn’t just give them free reign of the ship, but she couldn’t keep them locked up either. She’d decide after she dealt with… _this_.

 _“There is one final segment I wanted you to know, Commander, that I deemed to share with you alone.”_ Shepard nodded for her to continue. _“I’ve discovered the original emergency message sent from the Omicron facility in the VI’s final moments. Shepard, it includes the total body count within the station, including the arrivals. There’s no way the Illusive Man would have overlooked this discrepancy.”_

Victoria stared at her for a moment.

_That son of a bitch._

“Patch me through EDI.” she asserted, steeling herself.

At once the table began to lower, and stepping onto it she was scanned several times, coming face to face with the Man himself once again.

He blew out a plume of smoke.

“Shepard, good work on Omicron.”

“I was a little disappointed.” She replied glaring but keeping herself composed. The Illusive Man shook his head.

“You shouldn’t be. From what EDI’s forwarded me, we’ve gained a weapon far more powerful than anything Dr. Asimov could have devised.”

She stared disapprovingly. “I thought the whole point of Omicron was that it _wasn’t_ making weapons.”

He drew another long drag from his cigarette. “You should know better than anyone Shepard, knowledge is the most dangerous armament humanity has. You would never have been able to defeat Sovereign without the Prothean beacon and the cipher to comprehend it.” He took advantage of her silence, “And now? Look what we have achieved. This is more astounding than anything anyone could have possibly imagined. Soldiers, scientists, from forty thousand years in the future. We can’t even begin to fathom the magnitude of such a discovery.”

Victoria narrowed her eyes. “They may be useful but they’re still human, and I’m not just going to let you exploit them. Despite the fact your facility brought them here, they don’t belong to Cerberus.”

He flashed a confident smirk. “Think, Shepard. A human empire exists thousands of years from now. There’s an obvious implication here.”

Shepard furrowed her brow, then slowly, her eyes widened. “Whatever happens… We defeat the Reapers…”

The Illusive Man couldn’t smile wider. And for once, it was more than just his usual manipulative charm. It was a genuine smile of relief. “Precisely, Commander. In fact, our victory may be in no small part due to them. Their arrival is exactly what Humanity needed to give us a genuine edge over the Reapers. Unfathomable knowledge. We’re in possession of the most powerful weapon in the galaxy.”

“And that’s why you sent us to recover it.” Victoria replied, simmering. “You knew the researchers were dead from the moment Valetta went offline. You pulled the wool over our eyes and sent us in blind and unprepared. On my very first mission working with you, you expect me to trust you after this?” she asked incredulously.

He tapped his cigarette against the ashtray. “I expect you to understand, Shepard. Trust follows behind success, and look what we have already accomplished together. I do apologize for the need for secrecy, but ask yourself this Commander, would you really have gone knowing it was a manhunt instead of a rescue? To a planet so isolated that the perpetrators would have starved or died of exposure had we simply not gone after them? Would you have gone knowing full well it had nothing to do with what was happening to the colonies?”

Shepard didn’t respond.

He took another long drag. “Luckily, we may have just caught a massive break in that department. One of our colonies, Freedom’s Progress, is the latest to be abducted. We just received the news. Cerberus is determined to get boots on the ground before any investigators or Alliance bureaucrats disturb any evidence of what we might find there. I’ve already had EDI direct the coordinates to Mr. Moreau, you may even be on your way already.”

Shepard glanced at the floor. She hadn’t felt the inertial dampeners kick in.

“There’s one last thing Shepard. The arrivals. Get them up to speed, get them armed and outfitted. I want them on Freedom’s Progress right next to you.”

Victoria took a step back. “What? Why? We can’t afford to put them in harm’s way, we can’t risk everything they know.”

“Normally I’d agree with you, Shepard, but they need to see this. What better way to secure the loyalty of members from a human centric empire than facing a common enemy targeting human colonies? We need to show them what we’re up against. They may even know who’s behind these attacks in the first place. If they knew there was something out there threating humanity’s survival, you can bet they would sacrifice everything to protect it.”

Victoria stood silently, contemplating his words.

“Besides, Shepard, there have been no encounters of any kind on any of the other colonies. Even if by chance you happen to find something there, I trust in your ability to deal with it. It’s why I brought you back. There is far more at stake here than ever before. Show them the truth. Find any clues about what happened to the colonists, and who is behind these abductions. You just pulled off one miraculous discovery, Commander. Let’s see you do it again.”

With a click the hologram phased out of existence. Victoria stood motionless, staring at the empty wall, before nodding slowly. “EDI. Have Jacob meet me at engineering. Tell him to bring the guns.”

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Marcus woke up from his brief rest to the sound of light rapping against his door. He sat up straight, stretching his arms, trying not to think about his earlier conversation. He didn’t know why the man’s, _Jacob’s_ words had gotten to him so much. He’d slept it off, till now.

The door opened to reveal Jacob’s return, escorted by the captain. No, the _Commander_. Captain of the ship. That still didn’t fell right with Marcus. But whatever.

“Something I can do for you?”

The pair looked at each other, the Commander speaking up.

“Actually, no. We recovered footage from the Omicron facility. Your story checked out. We’re here to tell you, you’re free. Can’t hold you here anymore.”

Coda stared at them as though they’d grown pustules on their second heads. He didn’t have the slightest idea what ‘footage’ was, but they were saying…

“Bullshit.” He snapped. This was too easy. They were trying to bait him. Jacob looked towards the door and motioned inside. The guards came in, he knew it, they were… carrying his weapons. They were holding his guns. Was this their last indignity, to kill a man with his own-

They placed the lasrifle and boltpistol carefully on the ground in front of him, then quickly left the room. Coda didn’t dare reach for them. “What is this?”

Victoria breathed. “I told you. We cleared your name. You can tell your friend it was the VI that saw what happened before you arrived. She told us everything. Marcus, you’re free. You are no longer a prisoner aboard this ship.”

He studied her, looking for any hints towards deception, though her words sounded sincere. But even so, innocence proved nothing. He knew that as well as any Guardsman. Could so much have changed in 40,000 years? Carefully, not breaking eye contact he reached for the pair of weapons, neither making a move against him. Dutifully, he inspected Fowler’s boltpistol, finding it in relatively pristine condition. As boisterous as he could be, Coda had no wish to die, and he certainly had no intention of firing it should anything go wrong. That’s what his lasrifle was for-

_What._

Lasgun in hand he turned it over again, inspecting it thoroughly. There was no denying it.

“What the fuck did you do?”

Jacob and Victoria glanced at each other in confusion, “Wha-“

“These screws have been swapped- _Did you take this apart!?_ ” he asked incredulously. Jacob was guilty, squeezing his eyes, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I did, I’m sorry. EDI and I were trying to understand your technology.”

Coda rolled his eyes, taking a deep breath. “You could have just asked.”

Once again they shared a look. Truth be told neither expected the arrivals to exchange their technology for just about anything.

Coda muttered to himself. “Magos is gonna kill me. Gotta redo the rite of disassembly. And the ritual of cleansing. Not to mention the canticle of appeasement.”

Victoria wanted to ask about that, and a lot of things really, but she didn’t want to upset him any more than he already was. “Corporal Coda, as of this moment, you and your compatriots stand acquitted of all charges. Not that we ever had an official jury, but EDI’s just about the best endorsement you could get.” She smiled. “You’ll be moved from engineering to deck 3, we can’t let you wander the ship yet but you’ll have much greater freedom of movement.” She watched for his reaction. “All of this being said, we only know you haven’t directly breached galactic law. We don’t know anything about your plans or motivations, and know that if they’re hostile to ours we wont hesitate to put you back in these cells till we can drop you off at the nearest spaceport. But, we would like to open favorable relations with your people.” She reached out an open hand, hoping this gesture in the very least hadn’t changed in their time.

Staring at her, slowly he gripped her forearm rather than her hand, and she reciprocated. It wasn’t the same, but it was enough. “I don’t think I qualify as an envoy, but on the behalf of the Imperium of Man, I thank you for your _hospitality_ , Commander Shepard.”

 _EDI better be filming this._ Victoria thought, smiling.

“I want to bring you and the Magos down to Dr. Chakwas for medical screening. The decontamination is usually enough, but it’s been 40,000 years. I’m not taking any chances.” Coda nodded in relenting understanding. Victoria bit her cheek. ‘But before that, Marcus, there’s something I _need_ to know.” Her voice became deathly grievous. “How, do we stop, the Reapers?”

You could hear a pin drop, Jacob’s eyes widening. She could feel her weight shifting to the tips of her toes, the anticipation gnawing at her.

“What’s a Reaper?”

Both let out a bitter, defeated sigh of disappointment. Victoria held back choked up cough. They were so close…

“Reapers are… sentient machines. Immeasurable, ancient artificial intelligence programs, colossal warships with the sole purpose of wiping out all sentient life in the galaxy.” She felt her biotics on the verge of flaring, but killed it before anything displayed itself. “Spacefaring ones at least.”

Coda chucked, sighing. “Sounds familiar. Not sure about the ‘abominable intelligences’ though, you’d have to ask the Magos. I’m not a historian, Shepard, but there’s a reason such intelligences are banned within the Imperium. It’s downright heresy amongst the Mechanicus.”

Shepard stood in contemplation. There was a lot to unpack there. AI was illegal in the future. It was probably the best thing EDI could have done to conceal herself. But heresy? She knew the cyborg was fanatical, but she never expected him to be religious. And certainly not in a means that would ban something like AI, debatably the pinnacle of technology.

“So I take it you don’t know what’s happened to the human colonies here either?” she asked, knowing the answer, unsurprised when he shook his head.

He smiled, thinking back to Julius’s quiet rants and ravings. “Commander, nearly all of humanity’s history is lost. I doubt even Magos Soelok knows of anything more than a few thousand years ago. Even the most learned historians in the Imperium wouldn’t be able to tell you that. M3, the third millennium, simply doesn’t exist to us.”

He felt remorse for her heartbroken face. She did well to hide it, but you don’t survive more than a week in the Guard without knowing what people are really thinking. It’s the difference between knowing when someone is sending you to reinforce the front with your lasgun and fortifying the barricade with your corpse. A thought occurred to him, filling his mouth with distasteful bile. He snickered.   
“Eldar might though.”

Jacob narrowed his eyes, “You mentioned them before. I’m sorry about the Sergeant. We need to know everything you do about this species, do you know what planet they hail from?”

Coda shook his head. “Eldar don’t use planets. Too good for that. Got these ‘craftworld’ things, big starships they live on. Emperor above, what I would give to see one smoldering in a crater.”

That brought Victoria’s attention. “Wait, so they _are_ a spacefaring species? Why haven’t we ever heard of them?”

Coda nearly dropped his lasrifle. “You… You’ve _never_ heard of an Eldar?”

Victoria looked like she was about to say something, but quickly caught herself. “Wait, right, time travel. Still getting used to that. In our time they’re likely still a fledgling species-“.

“Stop.” Marcus interrupted, “No, they’re not. Look I may not know much about anything regarding history, but I do know for a _fact_ the Eldar were active during this time. They should be the most predominant species in the galaxy right now.”

 _That_ threw up some alarm bell, Jacob struggling to respond. “Corporal, we haven’t been able to find any trace of this species in galactic record. The blood on Sergeant Fowler’s body was the first time anyone had even encountered it in recorded history.”

Marcus staggered back, leaning against the wall. “I… We need to speak to the Magos.”

Without another word they left the room, Coda not even taking the time to smirk at the guards. His mind was far too preoccupied. He tried not to think about the implications but… there were more than disconcerting. They were terrifying.

Victoria nodded at the guards in front of Soelok’s cell, wary around a very heavily armed Corporal Coda, but nevertheless they opened the door. Inside Tallus stood unmoved from the moment she’d left him.

“Magos Soelok?”

“They… are not here.”

None of them moved, watching as his turned to face them. “That is why you have come… is it not, Corporal Coda?”

Swallowing, Marcus nodded. “Lord Magos… What happened to us?”

There was a long silence. “Corporal, have you discerned the current stardate?”

He nodded again, slowly this time. “185… M3.”

The Magos did not react immediately. “M… _3_.” He synthesized. “I had concluded we were transported to the far future. Past an Eldar extinction event. You are certain? By the Emperor’s light, Corporal are you _certain?_ ”

“I’m certain.” He asserted. He glanced at his new compatriots. “The Eldar aren’t just extinct. They’re not here _at all_. It was fucking Fowler that tipped them off, the only Eldar blood in the galaxy…”

“Confirmation. Is this true, Commander?” he asked, emotionlessly. In his mind Tallus was rapidly quarantining multiple neurovaults.

Shepard nodded. “At first we thought the word Eldar just meant something else, maybe another word for one of the council races. But the blood on the Sergeant’s body doesn’t match any species ever encountered so far. The way you describe them makes them sound like something else entirely, Coda said they were the most predominant species in the galaxy.”

The tech priest nodded. “Before the advent of Mankind, it is said the Eldar laid dominion to every system across the stars, for millions of years.”

Shepard and Jacob’s jaws dropped. They couldn’t even begin to fathom that kind of scope. Coda simply scoffed. “Whatever. It takes a thousand years to train an Eldar warrior. It takes one second to shoot ‘em with a lasgun. They go down like anything else.” He admired his rifle, turning to face Shepard, who shot him a strange look.

There was a long, punctuated silence, Victoria eventually breaching it. “So the Eldar were a massive, galactic-spanning empire with a few million years of history, and obviously they’re not here now. So what exactly does that mean for us?”

A long mechanical hiss followed. “It means, good Commander, that something… is wrong. Something is very… very wrong. The Eldar are not extinct. They cease to be. Or they were erased aeons ago. I cannot conceive of what could accomplish such a thing.”

She narrowed her eyes. “I can.”

Jacob nodded, thinking the same thing. “The Reapers. But still, this doesn’t make any sense. The Eldar don’t exist in our time, and the Reapers apparently don’t exist in theirs. So what are we dealing with here, another dimension?”

“No.” Soelok replied definitively. “This is the Materium, of that there can be no doubt. The Motive Force flows through the universe. Causality continues to exist. The Omnissiah has not abandoned us. Something… Something in _history itself_ … has changed.”

The room fell deathly silent, Jacob suddenly speaking up. “Did we just create a time paradox?” All eyes turned to him. “Because, if this is all the same timeline… doesn’t that mean that events in the future would change, enough so that you’d never be sent back?”

Coda didn’t even want to pretend he’d understood that. “Nothing about this makes any sense to me, but I’m failing to see how anything could have changed from _before_ we showed up here.”

“Agreed.” Soelok replied, deep in thought. “It refutes logic. But the Emperor’s light guides us, Guardsman. You must remember this. It may be our sacred duty to secure the existence of the Imperium itself.”

Coda’s eyes went wide. “Are-Wait, what? What happens if… nothing happens?”

Soelok stared him down. “Unknown. However, circumstances would dictate, whatever occurred to the Eldar of this time, could reoccur to Humanity in the present day.”

Coda looked like he was about to have a panic attack then Victoria interjected. “It has occurred, Magos. We’re at war against an immortal race of sentient machines. Warships so powerful they’ve exterminated all sapient life in the galaxy every 50,000 years, and we’re out of time. Two years ago humanity was attacked by a genuine Reaper, Sovereign, and his Geth armies. They were going to summon the Reaper fleets to wipe out every human in the galaxy, but we stopped it, and killed it on the Citadel. But it was just a herald, a vanguard. The Reapers are coming, human colonies all over the Terminus systems are disappearing, and now more than ever we need allies. We need the Imperium.”

All three stared at her, each for a different reason. It was the Magos who spoke in a low seethe. “Abominable Intelligences…”

Coda looked between the two of them, then down at his lasgun. With shaking hands, he gripped it till his knuckles whitened, nearly breaking his molars with the force behind his jaw. The burning hatred behind his eyes was unlike anything he had ever experienced in his time in the Guard. All of it… everything he knew…. Everything he’d done... Every Guardsman across a million worlds that had scarified _everything_ for the Imperium... Every soul fighting besides the Emperor in the immortal conquest. He looked at the unmoving mass underneath the tarp.

Everything

_Erased_

By these…

**_REAPERS._ **

He gave voice to his hatred, a roar of unshackled rage that sent Victoria and Jacob scrambling for the wall, hands on their sidearms, the guards bursting in the door. Victoria held up her hand, concern in her eyes but pleading anticipation. She released her grip on her Predator, Jacob doing the same.

“Shepard.” Coda intoned. The guards trained their rifles on him, but one look from the Commander made them withdraw. She stared at him, desperate to hear his next words.

“What… do I have to kill?”

Despite herself, Victoria let out a small incredulous laugh. She couldn’t get the smile off her face. She’d seen that rage before. She’d felt it on Mindoir. As terrible as it , she was just so thankful someone believed her.

“That’s what we’re trying to find out.” She replied. “Human colonies are being abducted, and right now we’re the only ones who can do anything about it. We need to get to the bottom of this if we have any hope of stopping the Reapers.”

Coda stood, wiping his nose. “I want to help.”

She sighed in relief. “That’s good to hear Marcus-“

“No, Shepard, you don’t understand.” He cut her off “If everything about this is true, if Humanity is snuffed out in its infancy, then everything… everything I have ever known, is gone. The light of every unborn son of the Emperor will be snuffed out.”

“Affirmation. The Corporal speaks the truth, Commander.” Soelok added, “What is the current population within Human occupied territories?”

Shepard turned to him. “Collectively? About twenty-five billion.” she replied, gauging his reaction. “I’m assuming it’s a bit higher after forty thousand years?”

At that, Coda actually burst out laughing. It was behind a pained, horse throat, but it was laughing. “Commander Shepard. There are four _quadrillion_ souls under the Imperial banner.” He smirked at her expression, before turning achingly serious. “Four quadrillion human souls that will never be born.”

“Commander Coda.” Soelok articulated, drawing his attention. “It appears I was in error. Our mission from the Omnissiah was not to recover the STC found aboard the Lady _Haevus_. Our calling was far greater than we could have possibly conceived. To combat the machinations of an enemy which seeks to see all of Mankind returned to dust, In the name of the Emperor, we must _save_ the Imperium.”

He placed a metallic hand on Marcus’s shoulder.

“Guardsman Corporal Marcus Valorus Dimazzi Stael Coda, you are charged with the ensurement and preservation of the Imperium of Man, The Adeptus Mechanicus, The Adeptus Militarum, The Adeptus Astartes, and all who are touched by the Emperor’s light. Through you shall He lead the Great Crusade, through you a million worlds will tithe in His service. Do you accept the charge?”

Coda held his lasrifle with indominable determination, ignoring the stares of the people around him.

“With my life, Lord Magos.”

Soelok nodded. “Resignation accepted.”

Jacob glanced between them. “Uh, sorry If this is a moment but… did you just do like a… blood pact?” he looked at the Magos, “Or… oil… pact?”

Tallus released his grasp on Coda’s shoulder, ignoring him. “Captain. It is divinity that has led to our convergence. We stand in face of extinction, yet the Lady Klare preserved us, guided by the Emperor, to your presence. The improbability is far too great to be anything less than intervention. The Omnissiah has chosen you, Commander Shepard, as his champion. And we, as his humble instruments.”

Victoria felt a little uncomfortable, but sensed he was conceding to her rather than venerating her. She nodded, her composure ever resolute. “We have a lot to catch you up to speed about, and I’m sure you both have plenty of stories to tell.” She smiled. “And in case I forgot to mention, Magos, Valetta cleared your name. We know what happened at Omicron. You’re free to go.”

Surprisingly he almost seemed to brush off the reprieve of his culpability, and was far more concerned about the VI.

“Urgent query. What is the status of the Lady Valetta?” he demanded again, his gaze trained on her, Shepard holding up her hands.

“She’s alright. She’s been through a lot. EDI is just caring for her till she gets better. I promise you Magos, she’s okay.” Victoria insisted. She really hoped she was telling the truth. He seemed to relax at that, but he was a machine, it was impossible to tell body language. “I need you both to follow me. Dr. Chakwas wanted to get a look at you, and I figured you could get a chance to see the girl who came with you.”

“Is she alright?” Coda asked, crestfallen, relieved at Victoria’s affirmation.

“She’s stable. Doc tells me she’s stronger than she looks. Come on, let me show you your new quarters. Crew deck’s a nice place.”

Coda and Soelok shared a look. “Negative, Commander.” The tech priest replied, garnering a few raised eyebrows. “Rationale. I am the only member of the Cult Mechanicus aboard this vessel, it is imperative I remain in place of proper engineers. I request to remain in these quarters on the engineering deck during my duration aboard the Normandy.”

Shepard glanced at Jacob, who shrugged. “Um… Sure. Permission granted. I can’t allow you access to the Normandy’s drive core or any of its systems, but if you get a chance talk to Ken and Gabby, I’m sure they’d find you fascinating.”

Tallus in turn bowed. “Obliged, Commander. Shall we see to your Medicae?”

“Medi- Oh right, the Doctor. Of course.” She nodded, signaling to the guards to open the door. Reluctantly, one tapped on their omnitool, the door unlocking fully. The other cautiously approached the mechanical adept, and with an unsteady hand, held out his lascapacitor. Without a word, and with expert dexterity, Soelok plucked it out of his hand with a wiry mechadendrite and loaded his mounted laspistol in one swift motion. He stood still for a moment, reciting the rites in low bursts of lingua technis, before joining the others.

The four made their way out the room and into the elevator, Victoria dialed into the control panel as they ascended. Marcus was still fascinated by their technologies, particularly their holograms. He caught a quick glance at her arm.

_I gotta get me one of those._

They came out to the ‘crew deck’, Coda almost laughing to himself. He still couldn’t get over how small this ship was. The _Woelight_ ’s barracks alone was nearly triple the size of the ship. A few dozen crewmen. Against an enemy that had extinguished the Eldar. Coda took a deep breath. Human ingenuity would defeat them. It would prevail. The Imperium stood unshaken from every threat to its existence under the light of the Emperor. The Emperor protects. The Emperor stands. Holy Terra stands. Humanity stands.

And the Reapers would _fall_.

Shaking himself out of his stupor, he followed Soelok and the Commander to a room a short distance from them. At first he was staggered simply by how clean the room was, which was obviously a Medicae’s office. There was no bile on the floors, no vats of organs or entrails, no cybernetics. Just the old woman and-

“Klare…”

He made his way over to the containment pod she’d been moved to, placing a hand on its translucent casing. He turned to the Medicae. “Is she…?”

“She’s quite alright, I assure you.” she replied in an almost matronly voice that Coda would admit he liked hearing. It reminded him of his mother, still on Rychos. Just one more soul to save. “Her physiology is astounding for someone of her stature. While the treatment is working, I’m extremely hesitant to wake her. Her eyes… the damage is irreversible. The nerves have been cauterized. Even prosthetics would be useless at this point. She’ll never see again. I can’t even imagine what this poor woman went through.”

Coda sighed, but nodded. “It’s alright. She’s an astropath. They’re all blind anyway. Though I still wouldn’t wake her up yet, a psyker alone is dangerous. I don’t want to think about what could happen with a panicked and confused one.”

Soelok turned to the girl, and then to Chakwas. “Affirmation. The Corporal’s concerns are founded in logic. Such unpredictability could potentially result in a loss in operational effectiveness, possibly reduced to 0.0 percent. This is unacceptable. The astropath will remain in artificial unconsciousness until her services are deemed necessary.” He asserted. The three present day humans shared a look, Victoria asking the obvious question.

“What makes her so dangerous?”

Coda smirked. “It’s why I was sent here in the first place. That was the suicide mission Fowler signed me up for, carrying _her_ through the _Haevus_. The idea was if she ever woke up, she might only fry me if we were lucky, and not the whole boarding party. Suddenly things are exploding, people are dying, and _she_ transported us here.” He sighed. “Point is, astropaths are dangerous. They’re blessed, of course. They’re probably closer to the Emperor’s light than any of us. But when uncontrolled through flawed vessels, His power can be catastrophic. I’ve heard stories of psykers turning the tides of battles, their terrible sorcery capable of destruction matched only by the legions of the Astartes themselves. If she wakes up, when she wakes up, I have no idea what’s going to happen. Could be nothing. Could be she rips a hole through the _Normandy_. Keep her sedated. Keep her safe.” He gauged their mix of expressions, ranging from disbelief to admiration, and he furrowed his brow. “Commander, if I may. If this ship does not have an astropath of its own aboard, how do you receive intersystem communications?”

Victoria narrowed her eyes. “FTL comm buoys. You’re saying _she’s_ the way you talk to each other?”

Soloek bowed slightly. “Commander, the astropaths are the Imperium’s only means of connection. Our navigators the only way of crossing distant stars. So much has been lost in the Dark Age of technology. It is the Mechanicus’ eternal charge to recover such ancient technologies you yourself likely take for granted.”

She looked down at the frail girl in the pod. “So what does that mean for her?”

“It means,” Dr. Chakwas spoke up, “that the poor girl needs some rest. She’ll stay here for now and whatever happens will be decided later. For now, Commander, I need you to leave. The decontamination process was through, but their immune systems are radically different from our own. I take it you’re not afraid of needles, Corporal?” she turned.

He gulped. “Um… well…”

Her dignified aged smile eased him, and she chuckled slightly. “It’s quite alright. I would like to inspect the Magos first if it’s all the same to you. If I may, would you be willing to submit to a few scans? Your prosthetics are unlike any we’ve encountered before.”

Tallus bowed his head in reverence. “Of course, honorable Medicae.”

Shepard smiled. “You use that word a lot. Are doctors held in high regard within the Imperium?”

Coda chuckled. “Anyone capable of saving lives is held in high regard within the imperium. If you don’t die fighting today, it means you can die fighting tomorrow. And if you can’t make it to tomorrow, you take as many as you can with you.”

Victoria didn’t know his to respond to that, only breaking out of her thoughts at Karin’s voice. “Commander. If you please?”

She looked at the doctor, before realizing. “Right. We’ll be right outside Doctor.”

The three left the room, Soelok staying behind. At the sight of their commanding officer and the strange man with the intimidating looking weapon, the crew packed up their bowls and cleared the deck. Coda smirked, eyeing a staring Gardner. “I guess some things never change.”

They sat down, Rupert working on something in a pot, Coda laying his lasgun on the table, inspecting it. He glanced at Jacob. “I’m going to need to use that armory later. Don’t think I’ve forgotten.”

Jacob eyed him nervously but nodded his head. “I’ll have EDI grant you access. I wanted to talk with you about it later anyway.”

Shepard put her shoulders on the table, crossing her arms. “Alright. So obviously we both have a lot to catch up on. I’m still wrapping my head around this whole thing, but if EDI believes you, then I trust her.”

Marcus huffed. “So, our freedom hinges on the beliefs of a machine spirit? Lovely.”

Victoria smiled solemnly, changing the subject. “I know we’re all going to have plenty of time to understand each other, I know plenty of us are going to want to hear about the Imperium, but as of right now, do you have any immediate questions?

Coda narrowed his eyes. “I need to know what Humanity faces in this time. You mentioned ‘council’ races. Elaborate.”

Victoria grimaced. “You said you’d never heard of a Turian before. Do the words Asari, Salarian, Krogan, Quarian, hell even _Batarian_ mean anything to you?” she asked hopefully, shutting her eyes as Coda shook his head.

“These are xenos?”

She nodded. “We don’t really use that word but, yes. They’re aliens that make up the various civilizations in the galaxy. Humans are relatively new to the universe, we only just made first contact a few decades ago. We’re the youngest spacefaring species by galactic standards. When humanity first began its expansion, it resulted in a war with the Turians that almost cost the colony of Shanxi and the second fleet. They might’ve nearly kicked us back into the stone age, had the Council not demanded a cease fire. The members of the other races, the Asari and Salarians, forced the Turians against interplanetary escalation. For now, there’s been a lasting white peace, and we’re trying to keep it that way.”

Coda looked at her disbelieving. ”Peace? What the hell is _peace?_ They’re xenos. There is no peace amongst the stars.”

Jacob spoke for the first time in a while. “I take it you’re at war with the Eldar?”

Coda would have laughed if he hadn’t been so dumbfounded. “We’re… at war with _everything_. Eldar. Tau. Tyrranids. Necrons. Greenskins. All threatening to exterminate us, but Humanity will not yield. The Guard will never faulter. There is _no_ peace amongst the stars. There is only war.”

That was alarming, for several reasons. Victoria tried to shake the shocked expression off her face. “I can’t imagine what things are like in your time, but right now the alien species in the galaxy are trying to survive each other _without_ war. The Citadel Council generally gets along with itself, and they control almost half of galactic territory. The council is made up of the dominant galactic races, but there are a half dozen other species within Council space that abide by their rules and laws.”

Coda’s mouth went dry.

“The xenos… are _cooperating_?” he asked incredulously, stricken at the Commander’s affirmative nod. He buried his face in his hands “Emperor above… just what we needed.” He looked at the floor dejectedly. “By the Emperor’s grace the xenos were just as happy to slaughter each other as they were to us. Had the Imperium to face such a collective…” he didn’t finish the thought, chiding himself for thinking such things. Even against such a force, Humanity would always prevail. The might of Man was indominable. “Why did this xenos ‘council’ halt the attack?”

Victoria shrugged her shoulders. “I doubt the Asari wanted it on their cultural conscience. They pride themselves on their sophistication and enlightenment, they’re the artistic icons of the galaxy. To set our civilization back like that would be almost anathema to them, even if they look down on our species overall.”

Coda smirked. “Now _that_ sounds like the damned Eldar.”

Victoria smiled, before continuing. “Even the Turians would think twice before exterminating us outright. They avoided committing genocide even after the Krogan Rebellions, though Wrex would probably disagree with that…”

“What are the ‘Krogan Rebellions’?” he asked with interest.

Shepard took a breath. “The Krogan are a race that were uplifted by the Salarians to wage war against the Rachni. I’m… realizing none of that made any sense. The Salarians are a technologically advanced amphibious race who are some of the best in the galaxy at espionage and covert operations, but weak in open warfare. The Rachni were a hive species that threatened to flood the galaxy. When the Rachni engaged in total war against civilized space, the Council was losing, badly. The Salarians made a desperate call. They went to Tuchanka, the Krogan homeworld, and offered them an exchange of spaceflight and advanced technology if the Krogan agreed to fight the Rachni. They did. The Krogan had everything the Salarians didn’t, and everything the galaxy needed to turn the tide. Huge supersoldier reptiles who’s entire culture was defined by struggle and warfare.” Coda narrowed his eyes. Xenos Astartes. Wonderful. “The Krogans saved the galaxy. Started populating it. They conquered world after world of Rachni-controlled space. And eventually, they started occupying Citadel Council planets. The Council naturally resisted, so the Krogan turned around and invaded Citadel space.”

Victoria didn’t like the Corporal’s growing smile.

“That was the Krogan rebellions. The Krogan marched across dozens of Council worlds, and for a while it looked like they might be the next leading species in the galaxy. The Turians resisted them the hardest, so the Krogan focused their attention on them. Three Turian planets were rendered uninhabitable after the Krogan bombarded them with weaponized asteroids-“.

She hadn’t expected to hear Marcus’s rancorous laughter as he tried to compose himself. “Oh, that is beautiful to hear. Please, continue Commander Shepard. I didn’t mean to interrupt.” He watched expectantly at their concerned faces, wariness growing in his voice. “Go on. You said the Turians _didn’t_ exterminate the Krogan after all this. I’m eager to know what happened.”

Victoria shot Jacob a glance before hesitantly progressing. “The Genophage. Working together the Turians and Salarians invented a virus, a sterility plague, which they unleased on the Krogan worlds. Krogan breed extremely quickly, it was why they held the front lines so dominantly. By taking away their troop supply and utterly demoralizing their entire species, the Turians turned the tide, and put the rebellion down. Every single Krogan alive today carries the genophage, and now their only sustainable population is on their homeworld.”

“Perfect.” Coda replied genuinely happily. “Why haven’t these Turians cracked the planet yet?”

Victoria and Jacob sat openmouthed, something Coda was not at all oblivious to. “What?”

They looked at each other, then back to him, Victoria speaking first. “You’d… exterminate the Krogan for the rebellions?”

Coda stared at her incredulously. “I’d exterminate the Krogan because they’re xenos.”

They continued to stare him down disbelieving, Victoria drastically reconsidering her choice to abide by the Illusive Man’s request to incorporate them. Jacob spoke up. “Is that a personal stance, or one that reflects the Imperium?”

Coda looked at him, highly confused. “They are… one and the same. I can’t imagine too many people would disagree with me, and if they did it would only be if there were some vague use to be found in these ‘Krogan’. I expect that if any Imperial citizen voiced any differently, they’d be executed for heresy.” He replied casually.

Victoria swallowed. This had just gone from alarming to downright critical. Cerberus could be fanatically human supremacist at times, but she’d never met _anyone_ with such extreme worldviews, let alone an entire galactic civilization. She could understand that maybe tensions had worsened and wars raged over millennia, but this? Every human in the Imperium? She doubted even Terra Firma could support such extremism. And she certainly didn’t even want to touch on what was quickly beginning to sound like a state theocracy. She steadied herself, taking a breath.

“Corporal, I know things have _drastically_ changed over the last 40,000 years, but I need you to listen to me. Present day humanity does _not_ reflect the views of the Imperium. There isn’t a species alive that does. Not even the _Geth_ are that xenophobic. They followed Saren as he tried to destroy human colonies and summon the Reapers. Every alien species I’ve mentioned so far laid down their lives for Humanity at the battle of the Citadel against Sovereign, and we sacrificed human lives to protect the Citadel Council when they needed Humanity.”

She put a firm hand on Coda’s lasgun as he moved to reach for it, his eyes wide. “It was Humanity’s sacrifice that earned us a place on the Citadel Council. It was my recommendation that got Captain Anderson its position. It was the actions of the Normandy’s crew that stopped Saren and the Geth from wiping us out, and aliens across the galaxy stood to defend us at every step. Corporal, the aliens of this time are _not_ like yours. We may not be the best of friends every day, but aliens have bled and _died_ for Humanity. I am willing to allow you to serve on this ship for the benefit of Mankind, but it is extremely likely that we will be encountering other species during this mission, and I will _not_ have you jeopardizing it by killing them indiscriminately.”

Coda and Shepard held each other in a deadlock stare. Jacob cautiously glanced between the two of them, neither seeming to give way. Marcus certainly seemed to be afraid, but not of Shepard. Jacob knew why.

“Alright, who wants some grub?”

All three startled looked up to see Rupert, still toiling away at the mess station, pouring over the contents of his pot. He brought two full bowls of what looked like minestrone soup and placed them in front of Jacob and the Commander. Shepard eyed him unamused, flexing his warm demeanor. “Prastus Minestrone, old family recipe.” He smiled, walking back to the stock “There’s beef I can throw in if you’d like.”

He walked back to the table with a third steaming bowl in hand, stopping just short of the apprehensive Guardsman. He eyed him for a long while. “I’d listen to the Commander if I were you, son.” He said, smiling warmly and placing the bowl in front of Coda.

Immediately Marcus reflexively relaxed, his stomach aching at the heavenly smell that graced his senses. Gardner perked up. “Ope, almost forgot spoons.” He made his way back. Coda shifted in his seat uncomfortably.

“Commander, while you may not be my commanding officer, you are still the captain of this ship, and I have agreed to work with you. The Magos believes you were ordained to find us. Clearly, we have much to discuss, and _oh by the Emperor what is this?”_

His eyes widened at he attempted his first spoonful of the contents of the bowl. He stared at the empty spoon, swishing the concoction around across his tongue. He didn’t even mind the somewhat searing sensation, hell he craved it after his time on Omicron. Rupert smirked at him. “Variety vegetables. Beans, onions, carrots and the like. So, how does it compare to futureville?”

Coda felt like he was going to cry.

“Thirty four years.” He said, ignoring their confused glances. “Thirty four Solar years, Sergeant Gardner, and I have never tasted anything so blessed by the Emperor.”

Rupert laughed merrily, Victoria raising her eyebrow. It was vegetable soup. _What the hell happened to the future?_ Her thoughts were interrupted by Rupert tapping on his Omnitool.

“Oh, I wish I could have recorded that. Would’ve blasted it through the barracks, but I can appreciate a good memory. You’re welcome at my table anytime kid. Hell, maybe I don’t need those groceries after all, eh Commander?” He jokingly smiled, Victoria allowing herself a small smile of her own despite the circumstances. She certainly needed to have a long talk with the arrivals. And possibly with the Illusive Man.

Suddenly the hydraulic hiss of the medical bay door grasped their attention, and Soelok, escorted by Dr. Chakwas, existed the room. It was a moment of reprieve for both parties, affiliating with something familiar. Karin glanced at them. “Marcus. Apologies for the delay but it seems you’ve made yourself comfortable. I’d like to see you inside when you’re ready.” She spoke softly as she returned to her office.

Marcus glanced between Shepard and Soelok, clearing his throat. “Lord Magos-“

“I know, Guardsman.” Tallus interrupted, looking down on the anxious Guardsman. “Or have you forgotten my audionic receptors are far more acute than your flesh ears?”

Coda stared at him, his breathing shallow and uncertain. “What… What are we supposed to do?”

The Magos stood, unwavering. “We trust in the God Emperor.”


	4. Warp Effect 4

“Astounding. This is remarkable, Commander.”

The Illusive Man was surprised when EDI had informed him of the Commander’s desire to speak with him, so soon after their last transmission. But this news demanded his immediate attention. “We can hardly imagine what the future must be like for Humanity to adopt such policies.”

“They’re going to be a liability.” Victoria insisted. “I know we have our disagreements but this is crossing the line. What’s going to happen when we encounter alien civilians? Let alone serving with aliens aboard this ship?”

He furrowed his brow in contemplation. “A significant hurdle. One I feel confident you’ll overcome, by appealing to their higher loyalties. If you can’t convince the Imperials to work with aliens, then you need to convince them to work with you. Freedom’s Progress is the key, Shepard. Their nature may very well be to exterminate alien life on sight, born from a future where Humanity’s survival constantly rests on the edge of a knife. You need to remind them what we’re fighting for. Mankind’s very existence hangs in the balance, against an enemy we cannot possibly hope to defeat alone. You’re a natural leader, Shepard. They will follow you.”

Victoria stared hard at the hologram. “How am I supposed to deal with their fanatical religion? They called him the _God Emperor_. I can’t imagine appealing to a ‘higher loyalty’ than that. If their ‘God’ demands the deaths of aliens, they’ll never work with us, let alone them.”

“Another interesting development.” He conceded, letting out a plume of smoke from his cigarette. “One with several fascinating implications. One could assume for instance that Magos Soelok’s scientific order would be relatively secular, unless there were some kind of physical, tangible proof of the existence of God. Or at the very least what they define as such. There may be more to this _Emperor of Mankind_ than we initially realize. Their deference and respect for these ‘machine spirits’ is also something of note. I expect a full report from Miranda in the coming days, but nevertheless Shepard, you’ve already been given an out. The Magos believes you were destined by their God to find them, and that they have a holy purpose here. Corporal Coda might take more convincing, but it’s given you a major head start. Don’t waste this opportunity Commander. We cannot afford to lose them.”

Victoria narrowed her eyes, nodding slowly. “We won’t. No one is going anywhere if I have anything to say about it. But nobody in the galaxy could have predicted this.”

The Illusive Man’s self-confident smirk broadened. “Including the Reapers. Even if somehow they didn’t seem to exist in their timeline, all that proves is that _someone_ beat them, one way or another. The Imperials remain our best chance at taking the Reapers by surprise, Shepard. And it starts with Freedom’s Progress.”

With that she watched as the hologram flicker out, the lights in the comm hub returning to the _Normandy’_ s soothing white. She stood in the empty room for a moment, before backing out into the CIC. She flashed Yeoman Chambers a polite smile, before hesitantly opening her private terminal. They’d be arriving at the colony shortly, giving Shepard just enough time to mull over opening a certain email she’d been hesitantly avoiding.

**From: Councilor Anderson**

She opened it.

**Shepard,**

**On the off chance the rumors are true and you really are alive, I need you to come and talk to me on the Citadel. A lot has changed in the past two years. You put me on the Council, and it’s only fair that you be allowed to speak for yourself about what we’ve been hearing.**

She sighed. Well, that could’ve been worse. A lot worse. It didn’t sound like he blamed her for the disappearance, or thought she’d turned traitor under the possibility they knew about Cerberus. She wouldn’t give the rumors time to worsen if she could help it. She was going straight to the Citadel after Freedom’s Progress. Maybe they could even reinstate her Spectre status.

She closed down the console, turning to the Yeoman.

“Kelly.” she intoned, grasping the young woman’s attention. “I need your thoughts on the arrivals. Are they going to compromise us on this mission?”

She beamed, happy to provide her commander with psyche profiles. “They are… incredible, Commander. Humans from _millennia_ in the future. The Illusive Man forwarded me everything EDI had compiled about them, and while I still find the conclusion to be unbelievable, the evidence is fiercely compelling. No matter what their origins though, you could write case studies for decades on each of them. The Magos’ cybernetics are beautiful, lethal, and almost specifically made to counter any evaluations of him. He only displays what little emotion he expresses when he specifically chooses to. However, his overtly religious faith seems to hold his value and ideals, as a zealous guardian of humanity and, interestingly, various machinery. Corporal Coda is similarly staunchly religious, but of a seemingly different denomination, much like Lutherans and Baptists. Nearly on the opposite end of the spectrum, Marcus bleeds sensitivity and is very in tune to his emotions, doing little to hide them at all. While I really admire that about him, he holds a deep pain, even when he appears happy. I think it’s very safe to say he suffers from survivor’s guilt, and potentially mild post traumatic stress, which feeds into his heightened emotional state. Their attitude concerning aliens is… alarming to say the least, but I agree with EDI’s recommendation. Their devotion to Humanity will help facilitate cooperation.”

Shepard nodded slowly. “Do you have any immediate recommendations?”

She nodded. “If half of what they claim is true, both sides are facing a complete unknown here. Marcus really seemed to lighten up when you discussed galactic history, his… personal thoughts on the Krogan aside. Sometimes even just a little familiarity is enough for people to cling to when they have nothing else. People are afraid of what they don’t understand, it doesn’t surprise me in the least how they’ve reacted to being here. Alone in a universe where nothing you know is true anymore. After our return from Freedom’s Progress, I’d like to share stories with him. His entire culture, the things he talks about… He’s currently in the armory if you’d like, Commander, I think it would be beneficial to speak with him before we touched down.”

Victoria narrowed her eyes. “He’s in the armory?”

The Yeoman smiled knowingly. “Under guard, Commander. He requested immediate access, he was not happy with how Jacob handled his weapons, and the Magos seemed even more perturbed. His devotion to machines aboard the Normandy, even the Normandy herself is fascinating. I’ve never met anyone in the galaxy like him.”

“Yeah… let’s hope we never have to.” Shepard muttered, putting on a smile of her own. “Thanks Kelly. I’m sure we’ll have plenty to talk about soon enough.”

The Yeoman returned to her duties as the Commander made her way to the armory behind her. The doors slid open to reveal two patient but anxious guards by the weapons locker, rifles lowered. Security around the arrivals had been lowered in light of their potential recruitment as full fledged members of Shepard’s crew, but that didn’t excuse the fact they were still debatably a first contact situation. She still needed to be careful.

Then Shepard caught sight of Marcus himself, leaning over his stripped lasgun with eyes closed. She opened her mouth to speak, but he swiftly held up a single finger, asking for her silence. Victoria obliged, and listening further, she could make out the words he was barely whispering under his breath.

“Be still, spirits, I do only what I must. Forgive the intrusion, and give me your trust. With your strength you protect me, with my care I repair you. Be restful, good spirits, and accept my benedictions. Spirits of the Machine, accept my pleas, and walk amongst the gun. Fire it true.”

She’d have to thank Miranda for the new ears, years in military service had given her a slight but growing tinnitus. Ever since she woke up from the Lazarus facility, all her senses felt like she’d never stepped into basic training, she couldn’t believe how perceptive she was. Watching as he respectfully and masterfully reassembled his rifle, she committed not to ask him about it. She was clearly not meant to overhear, even if she was in the room. Whether she understood it or not, it was clear the words held deep reverence in him. It wasn’t the first time they had mentioned Machine Spirits. She’d discuss it with the Magos later.

Not long after, Coda backed away from the assembly table, powered lasgun in hand. He stared at her, gaging her reaction, before securing it over his back. “Commander.”

She nodded, sharing his understanding. “Corporal. I take it you’ve been briefed on the mission?”

He smirked. “Your executive officer, _Miranda_ , filled me in. I take it she doesn’t like me very much.” He said with a light chuckle, which Shepard returned.

“She just wants to get to know you. Empiricist as she is, I think the whole time travel thing just doesn’t sit right with her. Can’t say the prospect was easy on any of us, but strange as it is the facts stay the same. You’re here now. I know we disagree about aliens, Marcus, but we need your help to save human lives. If you and Tallus can play by our roles for the sake of Humanity, we’re happy to have you beside us.”

Marcus was quiet for a second, then broke out in a grin. “Heh… _Tallus_...”

He scowled immediately afterward. “ _For the sake of Humanity_. Such apostate alliances are unspoken of at best, Commander. It is unclean. I have never had the dishonor of fighting alongside a xenos, though I have witnessed them fight enemies that weren’t us. It is far more honorable to let the xenos kill each other, then wipe out the survivors when the smoke clears.”

Shepard narrowed her eyes, challenging him. “Corporal, will there be a problem when-“

“I’m not finished Commander.” He replied, taking her by surprise. He cleared his throat. “Such alliances are unspoken, but not unheard of. Despicable as it may be, there have been few instances of such fragile cooperation, and only in the desperation of the helpless and heretical. But in this time, without the armaments of the Imperium, without the battlements of the legion or the Astartes, Mankind is vulnerable for the first moment since time immemorial. Nevertheless, Humanity shall prevail. No matter what must be done.”

Victoria actually allowed herself to smile. She hadn’t heard someone talk with that kind of determination since Anderson. Disturbing as the arrivals may be, she definitely had an opening for cooperation. Without the aide of the other species the Reapers would wipe them out, without question.

“No matter what must be done. We’ll be arriving at Freedom’s Progress shortly. If you want to save Humanity, Corporal, we need to start by finding out what’s happening to our colonies. If possible, we save our colonists. If not, we avenge them, and send whoever’s behind this back to dark space.”

He raised an eyebrow at that. “That’s another thing Commander, something I’ve been meaning to ask you about. I can’t pretend to understand the technology of this time, but humanity has only ever been capable of traversing through the warp to cross distant stars. How are we currently travelling?”

Victoria’s smile broadened. Finally some common ground, something every human no matter what their origins could relate to. From horses to cars to starships, the one thing that bound all of humanity together was getting things to go fast.

“You want to see?” She asked with a smirk, nodding towards the door. Coda looked interested but glanced towards his guards, to which Victoria raised her hand. “It’s alright, just you and me. I trust you won’t cause any trouble on my ship. Now come on.” She joked, opening the door, Marcus cautiously following her.

Many eyes tailed them as the duo made their way towards the cockpit, Coda once again marveling over just how small this ship was, despite its technological achievements. Still, he made his way forward unafraid of the unknown, and in truth he was at his core excited to learn. They came up to the pointed front of the vessel, the one who had called to him earlier sitting at its head.

“Joker, I’d like to introduce you to someone.” Victoria started. She eyed the pilot, who in turn swiveled his chair to face them, scanning over Coda.

Jeff chuckled. “Yeah, we’ve met. I believe his exact words were ‘I don’t know how you heretics managed to survive out here with such a shit navigator’.”

Marcus unapologetically held his gaze with the man, noting several distinct features. Orthotic braces on the legs, relatively civilian attire, and most importantly… “You have two eyes.”

Jeff and Victoria glanced at each other, “…Yes, I’m very attached to them.”

Coda shook his head. “I was mistaken. There is not a navigator aboard this ship. How are you crossing material space?”

Joker turned back to command position, dialing a few key codes. “Well Picard, I don’t know how you guys do things, but in this day and age…” he said, flicking a switch onboard the ceiling, “…we’ve got this.”

Marcus took a step back, his eyes wide at the brilliant blue vortex streaking past the opened shutters, making Victoria smile.

“First time is always special.”

Joker smirked. “Well this’ll be one hell of a cherry pop. We’re hitting the relay right about…”

 _“…Now_.”

Marcus stumbled forward slightly as the inertial dampeners kicked in, then scrambled back falling flat on his ass as his eyes glued themselves to the vast alien structure beyond them. Technically not massive by Imperial standards, but perspective wise it dwarfed the Normandy in every way, its core glowing and radiant. It looked exactly like the strange machine Soelok had activated back in that damnedable facility, though far, far bigger…

And _alien._

“What fucking xenos sorcery is this?” he rasped, getting himself off the ground. He knew what the Commander had said, it had scarcely left his mind since their conversation in the mess hall. A time when Humanity was not in active war with the abominable xenos races. Heretical as it was, Coda repeatedly had to remind himself of the state of the universe and the words of the Magos.

But it was one thing to have an uneasy ‘peace’ with xenos. It was a _very_ different thing to actively be _using xenos technology._

He debated going to inform Soelok, but he was sure the mechanical being would find out shortly if he didn’t already know. Worse, he could’ve already known, and simply didn’t care. Marcus didn’t know if the Mechanicus Lord had a conscience or just another series of cogitators, but he was beginning to suspect that their ‘holy mission’ here was nothing less than the Magos validating his catastrophic failure. Try as he might, it was difficult for Coda to truly believe their ascendency here was a gift of the God Emperor, and not simply the result of some throne-damned _warp fuckery_.

However, some small part of him still clinged to that desperate belief, and that small part gripped slightly stronger once the rim of the planet came into view.

‘Freedom’s Progress.’ A human colony settlement on the world below. But far earlier than any established by the _Haevus_ and her sister ships, that much Coda was certain of. M fucking 3. He still couldn’t get over that. They weren’t in pre history. They were in pre pre pre history. Ironically, a small smile formed on the guardsman’s face. He could at least take solace in the fact that the all knowing Magos was just as ignorant as he was here.

There were no great hive cities. No masses of arable land, nor the smogged fester of Mechanicus forgeworlds. It was entirely… impotent. Coda couldn’t pretend to have the slightest understanding of Human geography besides the most venerable of Imperial strongholds, yet it still struck him that this planet had eluded him. To be one of Mankind’s first steps into its rightful conquest of the stars, it should have been a beacon to Humanity in his day and age. Yet he had no memory of this place.

“What has happened to these people?” he asked, a dripping anger in his voice.

“That’s what we hope to find out Corporal.” Victoria responded, heading back to the CIC, turning her head to face him. “Well? You coming?”

Marcus glanced back at the imposing blasphemy that was this… thing. Then he looked down at the planet. Cold. Lifeless.

“With pleasure, Commander.”

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

It was no surprise to find Soelok in the hanger bay, reciting the canticles of proper weapon maintenance and appeasement of various machine spirits, though he was intrigued by the forms the tech priest exhibited. Normally individual ships and structures, such as their paltry shuttle, would be treated with their own reverence and veneration. However, here Tallus seemed to be treating the entire ship, and everything in it, as a single creature.

_EDI._

Marcus glanced around the room, knowing the talkative machine spirit was likely watching their every move. It was still jarring to see such vaunted spirits in person, truly he was sure such an audience itself with the lowly guardsman would’ve gotten him dragged off by the collarmen on a lower forge world. Loathe as he to admit it, the VI’s they’d encountered in this strange time had saved their lives, and he worried for the Commander’s safety if she kept the Lady Valetta out of Soelok’s hands for much longer.

Unwavering under the gazes of various crewmen, Marcus boarded the Kodiak dropship, meeting the eyes of Miranda and Jacob as he took his seat aboard the shuttle adjacent to them. Miranda still gave off the air that she didn’t wish to speak to him, which was fine by Coda. Jacob looked interested, but apprehensive. Markus smirked internally.

As he sat adjacent to them, Coda took the time to evaluate the circumstances surrounding him. He was beginning to truly internalize that they were in M3. The third millennium. An era even before the dark ages, one only whispered of in passing childhood stories.

And here they sat, a Guardsman and a Tech Priest, with who claimed to be the last hope for Humanity’s survival. Coda had his doubts of course, but it was entirely possible this Shepard woman was an unknowing saint, perhaps even blessed by the Emperor himself in her efforts to preserve Mankind. He didn’t understand Soelok’s rants about time alterations and his endless ramblings of the Hadex, but Coda knew this:

He would defend the Imperium to come with every breath, as he always had.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

The landing had been smoother than he’d been used to. Jacob had been keen to explain the workings of the Kodiak in the face of Soelok’s incessant questioning, which Marcus promptly toned out. His eyes merely snapped open as the shuttle doors did, and the commander and her team leapt out of the vehicle.

 _Right._ He thought, _Anti Gravity._

Marcus gave Tallus a look, a slight mechanical whine emerging as he nodded his head in affirmation. Needing no further permission, Coda gripped his lasrifle and jumped out of the dropship, instantly taking stock of their surroundings and checking corners. Four ground infantry, one tech priest, seven boxlike residential structures, twenty-seven more outside line of sight, estimated ten meters between each, twenty meters from the closest. No contacts. Shepard flicked two fingers forward twice in a universal signal to move up, and opened a channel on the new vox -or _radio_ \- system they outfitted him with.

“Form up. Our first priority is to look for survivors.”

Coda smiled. He was beginning to like the Commander already.

Miranda glanced at Jacob before looking back at Victoria. “That’s unlikely Commander. No one was left at the other colonies, they were completely deserted.”

“Be nice to find anybody.” Jacob interjected. “Anything’s better than another ghost town.”

The four raised their weapons, Coda remembering to watch his footing this time. As they made their advance the only things that could be heard was the light skittering of Soelok’s appendages and the gusting of the frigid wind.

They stopped in front of the first residential block, Shepard raising her hand. Quietly she brought up her omni tool, and with the access codes questionably acquired by the Illusive Man unlocked the door. The room ahead was dark, its lights struggling to flicker on in their presence. Soelok said a quick prayer for them as they pressed on.

“Looks like everyone just got up and left right in the middle of dinner.” Jacob commented. Marcus nodded, he was right. Bottles were knocked over, equipment left running, even the food was still out. Forcing himself not to look at what he could only imagine would be the second-best thing he’d eaten in his life. He swallowed at the sight, then shook his head and retained concentration on the mission.

The team made their way forward, down the ramparts and into a clearing below the residence.

“Strange…” Miranda wondered aloud. “No bodies. No structural damage. No signs of battle.”

“None that you can detect.” Soelok chimed, the four turning their heads towards him. “I am reading excessive xenos biological markers. Warning. State of current xenos presence is unconfirmed. We must press forward with caution, Commander.”

Coda felt the grip on his lasgun tighten, his eyes focused. Shepard raised her pistol as she unlocked the next door. “Be ready.”

The wall came down, and immediately a storm of bullets rained on their position.

“GET TO COVER!”

Immediately they dove for defensible positions, Soelok exhibiting more dexterity than Victoria would’ve expected of the mechanical man. Raising her sidearm, she leveled her sights at the LOKI mechs firing at them from the balcony at the adjacent building. With three quick headshots one went down, its self destruct measures staggering the unit adjacent to it.

Victoria looked over towards the Magos, currently taking lethally accurate shots with his welded laspistol. She called over, “Tallus, can you provide suppressing fire while we take the ones on the ones on the right?”

To his credit, the Magos seemed more offput by her use of his first name than the questioning of his abilities, but nevertheless he responded. “Affirmation. Commander, I may not be a Dominus, but you will find no weakness in me.”

Shepard nodded, watching as he levelled another devastating volley towards the clumsy mechs, their only advantage being in numbers. Over the sound of lasfire she called out to the squad.

“Jacob, pull the one on the left, Miranda hit the downed with an overload as soon as it gets back up!”

“Right!” The two responded in unison.

“Marcus, I need you to-“

She was immediately cut off by the repeating sounds of high pitched twangs, several red beams releasing from Coda’s lasgun, immediately burning through what little shields and flimsy armor the droids possessed.

“Blasphemy. Human machines, corrupted by xenos heresy.” Soelok seethed.

“Friendlies Down.” The remaining mech uttered as it struggled to right itself, Jacob taking the initiative to levitate it, giving Miranda a clear line to fry its circuits.

Coda paled, his voice dropping to a whisper.

“What psychic sorcery is this…”

Smirking, Jacob released the mech, its chassis making a satisfying clang as it fell to the ground. His smirk fell as he saw the horrified look on Coda’s face and the piercing intrigue of the Magos.

“You… You’re a psyker!?” Coda yelled, his hands shaking, resisting the urge to raise his lasgun. Jacob shared a worried glance with Miranda and Victoria before responding.

“I don’t know what a psyker is, but I’m a biotic. All of us are.” He added that last part hesitantly, drawing the eyes of his comrades.

Coda scanned their eyes, meeting Victoria’s gaze. “All of you-?”

“Fascinating.” Soelok’s vox whined.

Marcus turned a wide eye to the tech priest. “Magos…”

The Mechanicus lord held us his hand, not taking his gaze off of Jacob. “You can channel the warp… yet… it does not touch you…” The crew felt his myriad green eyes swarm over them, before retreating back into his collected composure. “We have much to discuss.”

“Later.” Victoria interjected, drawing their attention. “None of the other colonies had active security. That means there’s already something different here, and we need to be ready for it.”

Jacob shook his head, his brow furrowed. “Those mechs shouldn’t have been hostile. They should have recognized us as human.”

Miranda nodded. “Shepard’s right. Those mechs were programmed to attack on sight. We’re not alone here.”

“No…” Soelok muttered, “No we are not.”

Coda breathed deeply, still processing that little revelation about their new companions. He could deal with that later. If there was anyone still left alive on this colony, they had to save them.

The team trudged their way forth, through abandoned complexes and security checkpoints. A few more times they were set upon by homicidal droids on the rafters, a few more times for Marcus to observe and Soelok to study the terrifying implications of what these people called ‘biotics’.

Had they been in any other circumstances, Coda was sure the three would be put to death for unsanctioned sorcery, hell he might’ve done it himself. But he needed to remind himself that these people were the only thing he and Soelok had in this place, regardless of the Magos’ dubious prophecies. If they posed a threat, he knew full well the Magos would not hesitate to execute them on the spot. He hoped.

Thank the Emperor Commisar Varina isn’t here…

After dispatching another sect of droids another door blocked their way, this one with a red holographic display. He didn’t need to be from this timeline to understand it was locked. The automata of this timeline were beginning to intrigue Coda, their designs so alien yet definitely human in origin. This group contained strange animalistic machines that reminded him of cyber mastiffs, just far less agile and much bulkier. Referred to as FERNIS mechs by Miranda, it didn’t take much for Coda to shred their relatively exposed hides.

Coming up to the new structure, it took Shepard far longer to crack their security by hand. Marcus tensed as his companions readied weapons. Someone had sliced this door locked by hand.

Someone that was very surprised to see the door open.

“XENOS!” Coda shouted, shooting the closest hardsuited alien in the chest. Or rather, he would have, had Victoria not shoved the end of his lasgun out of the way at the last second, the lasbolt searing through the alien’s left shoulder.

“PRAZA!”

At the sound of the iQuarian crying out, Victoria’s biotics lit up like a Christmas tree as she lifted Coda and held him against the wall, her eyes searing.

“Check your damn fire!” she yelled, her voice carrying a weight he hadn’t heard from her before. It instilled in him a respect that for a moment overweighed the sheer terror he was facing in her presence.

“They’re xenos!” he responded urgently, the Commander cursing under her breath.

“I know, and I know what this must look like, but they’re **not** the ones that took the colony.”

“How could you possibly know that Shepard!?” Marcus yelled in desperation

…

“Shepard…?”

A small voice echoed over the chaos, everyone on both sides marking targets, just waiting for a reason. Victoria stood silently, her biotics dissipating, Coda hitting the metal floor with a loud thud. Her gaze met that of the visor of a hardsuit she never thought she’d see again.

“…Tali?”

Tali’Zorah nar Rayya marched to the front of her squad. “Put those weapons down, now!”

The quarien commandos surrounding their commander were awestruck. “They shot us! Prazza needs medical attention, we can’t-”

“That’s an _order_ Petra!” Tali reinforced.

Her lieutenant’s head jerked, rifle steady. “I’m not taking any chances with Cerberus operatives!”

Pushing the gun down Tali swiveled to face… _her._

“Shepard? Is that… You’re alive?”

Coda coughed as he collected his breath on the floor. “You know this damned xenos?”

Tali looked down at him incredulously. “Wow, okay, rude. Don’t like you. Shepard… is it really you?”

Victoria smiled. “It’s me Tali. Remember when I gave you the Geth data we recovered? Did it help you on your pilgrimage?”

_You did what?_

Visible relief washed over Tali, who desperately tried to suppress choking up as she responded. “Yes. It did. Everyone, weapons down. This is definitely Commander Shepard.”

“I don’t give a damn who this is, Tali’Zorah, you insult your command. We need to get Prazza out of here-“

“I can speak for myself.” The Ailing quarien spat out, painfully standing up. Rocking his shoulder, he walked over to Coda, a seething hatred staring back at him. He glanced down at the lasrifle in his hands. “Nice gun.”

He coughed, clearing his throat, turning toward Victoria. “I don’t know what Tali’Zorah’s old Commander is doing with Cerberus, but I need emergency anesthetics and a suit repair. So please, someone get me a medbay, and I’ll consider not subjecting your subordinate to a court martial.”

“I’d like to see you try.” Coda growled, animalistically baring his teeth.

Victoria clenched her fists. “Jacob, get him to the Kodiak. Contact Joker and prep Dr. Chakwas. Hopefully her xenobiology hasn’t gotten to rusty.”

Jacob eyes her cautiously, glancing at the barely concealed rage apparent on Marcus’ face. “Uh, Commander, are you sure-“

“I’m sure.” she said definitively. “I can handle this. And he needs medical attention, now. Wound like that needs more than your average triage.”

He nodded in acknowledgement, slinging the barely lucid quarien over his shoulder, Coda gawking in aberration.

“You would have him aboard your ship?”

Victoria shot him a glare. “I wouldn’t have to if you hadn’t shot him.”

He didn’t rightly respond to that. Is was true, but it was also… wrong. His mind was rolling with red. They were xenos. Inhuman. They were _xenos_.

“Too far Shepard. You tell me not to hunt them. Fine. You dare bring a xenos aboard a vessel of Humanity and give them _medical supplies_?”

One of Tali’s lieutenants shared a glance. “I’d heard about the Iddena, but I didn’t expect even Cerberus to be so extreme.”

“He’s **_not_** with us.” Miranda interjected immediately. “Their technology makes them… beneficial.”

As if on cue, the voxcasters on Soelok’s apparati cracked to life, startling those present as if only just acknowledging he was there. “Opportunity. Augmenti of environmental suits provides ample material for study. Circumstances are favorable for vivisection, further if the subject expires.”

Victoria pinched the bridge of her nose, already regretting this.

“ _No one is dissecting anybody._ Tali… it’s good to see you. Trust me, I’ll explain everything later. Long story short, Cerberus recovered me from the crash. Spent the last two years rebuilding me, with enough credits to field a warfleet. They want me to investigate the attacks on human colonies.”

Had it been anyone else the Quarian would have laughed. But this was the Commander, here, in the flesh. Tali nodded slowly, peering a cautious glance over her shoulder. “And your… friends?”

Shepard sighed deeply. “Even longer story. Advanced technology, don’t play well with others.” She smirked internally at the huff from Coda’s direction.

Tali took a quick breath, assessing the situation. “Alright. Perhaps we can work together… or at least cooperatively.” She said hesitantly, “We’re looking for a young quarien named Veetor. He was here on Pilgrimage.”

Victoria narrowed her eyes. “Isn’t that a little strange? A quarian visiting a remote human colony?”

Tali agreed, but continued, “Quariens can choose where they go on pilgrimage. Veetor liked the idea of helping a small settlement. He was always nervous in crowds.”

_These heretics would allow a xenos among their race?_

One of Tali’s crew, Petra, spoke up. “She means that he was unstable. Combine that with damage to his suit’s CO2 scrubbers and an infection from open air exposure, and he’s likely delirious.”

Tali turned back toward Shepard. “When he saw us landing he hid in a warehouse on the far side of town. We suspect he also programmed the mechs to attack anything that moved.”

Soelok visibly tensed at that, noticed only by Marcus and Miranda.

Victoria pressed on. “Veetor is the only one that can tell us what happened here. We should work together to find him.”

“Good idea. You’ll need two teams to get past the drones anyway.” Tali agreed, nodding, to the horror of her teammates.

“Now we’re working with Cerberus!?”

Marcus’s temper flared beyond control. “ _What the fuck are we doing Shepard?_ ”

“Indeed.” Soelok uttered before Victoria could get a word out. “Validation. This xenos has committed inadmissible heresies against the Omnissiah, the holy machines of Man in this sanctum are forever debased. You are an instrument of the Machine God, Commander. You are not above its will.”

Feeling uncharacteristically confident in the face of a superior, maybe knowing that Soelok seemingly had his back, Marcus took a step towards the fiery red haired woman he now called Commander. Miranda’s hand subtly moving to her sidearm did not escape his notice.

_Or Soelok’s._

“Commander. We will find the colonists _without_ their aide. We **cannot** trust these xenos.”

With that, the Quariens backed up as Victoria’s eyes burned with violet fire.

“…Fascinating…”

In one swift motion Victoria grabbed Marcus’s lasgun and leveled a biotic charged kick straight into his gut, all present tensing up as Coda’s wheezing filled the room. Glaring at the doubled over Guardsman, Shepard whispered in a seething finality.

“Tali’Zorah nar Rayya has saved my life more times than I can count, before and after she served under my command on the original Normandy. The information she provided the Human Alliance two years ago is the **only** reason humanity’s still standing today. So you best show some damned respect Corporal, because I trust her a hell of lot more than I trust you.” She punctuated by throwing the lasgun on the floor in front of him, her gaze shifting between him and the tech priest.

“You will work with aliens. You will fight with aliens. And you can be damned sure you will be serving with aliens when the time comes. Or else you will lose everything you’ve been trying to protect.” The biotic corona dissipated, but her gaze remained unwavered. “You need me, and I don’t need you.” Victoria wasn’t sure if she was lying, but she pressed on. “You want to save the Imperium, Corporal?” she asked, his gaze finally meeting her stare.

“Then play _nice._ ”

Marcus grit his teeth. His eyes stung. It was wrong. It was so fucking wrong. He was to spend an eternity crushed under the weight of the warp for this, abandoned by the eternal conquest. The things the heretics of this time required, the lengths he would have to go through to protect the might of Mankind… He would never see the light of the Emperor again.

…But they would.

He rose to his feet, retrieving his lasgun. He would have to appease it again later. He looked straight forward, leveled, and at attention.

“Yes, _Commander_.”

Shepard gave a curt nod, then turned towards a beaming Tali, though few would be able to notice.

“Keelah. I missed your speeches.” Bringing Victoria a semblance of a smile, she continued. “But back to the mission. We work together to get to Veetor. My team will move up to secure the next checkpoint. When we give you the all clear, flank Veetor’s position, and we’ll find him together.”

Shepard’s smile widened. “Agreed. Sounds like a plan. Make sure to keep in radio contact.”

The quarian nodded. “Will do. Good luck Shepard. Whatever happens…

…It’s good to have you back.”

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

…

……

“What the fuck were those things Shepard?” Coda asked, exasperated and defeated. The treacherous xenos had gone on ahead to their own objective, leaving the Commander and her entourage alone in the room.

To her own credit, Victoria had begun adjusting to their brandished xenophobia. It was such a clear divide from any other philosophy she’d encountered. There were plenty of racist and human centric people and groups in the galaxy, Cerberus debatably amongst them, but the Imperials of the future truly were in a league of their own. No mercy, no quarter. Shoot on sight, ask questions never. It was a hell of an obstacle to break, but as long as they needed her, she would have a way to leash them. For now, she could answer a question like that.

“Quarians. They’re a spacefaring race hailing from the Perseus Veil. They get a lot of flak in the galactic community for creating the Geth, the artificially intelligent synthetic race Saren tried to use to free the Reapers, but they’ve been punished for it. They were forced to abandon their homeworld when the machines they made rebelled against them, so now their entire race lives aboard liveships that travel together as a Flotilla. The Quariens have the largest fleet in the galaxy, so for future reference Corporal, we want them _on our side_. Am I clear?”

Soelok shifted uncomfortably at the mention of artificial intelligence, meanwhile Marcus’s grimace remained unmoved. He avoided her gaze as they made their way into the next area.

“Just as long as they don’t get in my way.”

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

_I can’t believe I’m doing this._

Leveling fire against the hordes of machines, Coda couldn’t help but think about those first few moments of the march against the _Haevus_. Emperor be thanked these machines were nothing like those abominable xenos warforms. As his lasgun tore down a flying drone with laughable ease, his thoughts fell on Julius. He doubted he’d see a restful night for longer than he’d admit. They always seemed to survive together, for whatever reason the Emperor ordained. Four tours since they were conscripted on Rychos and somehow, Marcus never thought he’d have to see… _that_.

Throne be praised it was quick.

Flinching the thought away, he turned his focus back on the mission at hand. Find the colonists, save the colonists. Find the xenos, kill the xenos. Kill the xenos, save the Imperium. Nothing changed. He just couldn’t spit the disgusting taste of blasphemies out of his mouth. At least Soelok had not completely sold his soul. Not yet.

He hadn’t expected the tech priest to back him on Shepard’s transgressions, with all his sermons of destinies and gifts of the Machine God. Maybe this was his way of coming to terms with his failures. But in the end their righteousness belittled necessity, and the Commander had them in a vice. If the two of them had any hope of preserving the Imperium, they would have to work with these heretics.

With…

 ** _Fucking Xenos_**.

The thought brought a white rage to Coda’s trained eye, downing several more battle mechs. He didn’t even acknowledge the begrudging praise from Miranda, putting down one obstacle after another. Of course, he couldn’t take all the credit.

The Commander was a force of nature.

While Jacob likely did not fully grasp the gravity of their warpborn power, something they would be having a _very_ long conversation on back aboard their ship, he had certainly been proficient in channeling it combatively. It had come as a surprise to him when the armorer began making lighthearted quips and even jokes as he’d trashed the mechs, reminding him of Marius in the 224th. He’d looked over to Marcus, and read his expression as something of captivated in his own abilities.

It was then Operative Taylor had said, “If you thought that was cool, you should see the things she can do.”

It was only now that Coda could come to realize exactly what he’d meant. It was hard to describe the rot in his throat at first seeing the commander throw herself across the battlefield, shotgun in hand. The implications of a fully awakened psyker fielding the combat zone was terrifying enough, but the fluidity and grace the Commander exhibited dispatching hostiles was nothing short of beguiling. Prospects of ripping herself and everyone including him apart on a molecular level aside, he had to admit…

It was Throne damned effective.

Pressing on the team took positions against the wall beside a large gate as Shepard contacted her xenos ally. The Quarians looked like they could barely take a hit, and Coda smiled at the memory of rupturing their lieutenant’s suit. When word reached that they were in position under the command of this ‘Tali’Zorah’, all four took overwatch. He would never admit it, but it was actually somewhat amusing seeing Magos Tallus Soelok holding a laspistol amongst their companion’s armaments. Or rather, it would have been, had Coda not personally seen just how lethal the mechanical being could be.

If these putrid xenos dared to ambush them, it would be the last thing they’d ever do.

Nevertheless, the structure unlocked and opened, revealing the Quarien infiltration team establishing sniping positions on the rafters. Immediately Marcus dove for cover, avoiding their scopes, but Victoria and Miranda strode forward as if ignoring the present danger. It didn’t matter who they were or what this _alien_ had done in the past. Xenos were xenos. He merely waited for any excuse to crack their faceplates.

His concerns were not availed by Soelok’s approach, who upon observing and evaluating the situation, planted himself besides Marcus. The lenses of his eyes scanned the battlefield, and while the Magos was certainly not an expressive individual, though he was for a member of his order, his demeanor seemed to relax after a moment.

“Observation. Tactically advantageous position to acquire target. Population of apostate automata decreasing admirably. Evaluating vital signs and speech patterns places probability of Xenos treachery steady at 13.448 percent, with a margin of error at 0.007 percent.”

Marcus looked around as he peaked over his position, the vibrancy of Shepard’s terrible power lighting the battlefield.

“So, what do we-“

 _“ARE YOU TWO GOING TO SIT THERE ALL DAY, MOVE UP ALREADY!”_ Shepard’s voice blared over their vox receivers. Eyeing the Magos, who nodded in the affirmative, Marcus took a deep breath, and lept over his emplacement. Eyeing a group of FENRIS mechs about to flank Miranda’s position, Marcus and Soelok glanced at each other before laying fire down on the pack, much to her surprise and appreciation. The Quariens seemed to take notice of their lasweapons, much to Coda’s bemusement.

Let them watch. Let them fear the might of Man.

Another broadcast met their ears as Shepard cleared another forward position. “Alright, the door to the security complex is sliced. I’m going to get to Veetor, cover me while-INCOMING!”

Coda barely had time to acknowledge her directive before blinking his eyes. He was looking up. When was he looking up? There was a ringing in his ears, the taste of blood and dirt familiar in his mouth. His breath was ragged, and it was then that Marcus realized he was lying on his back. Lazily, he oriented his sight over his chest-

-and immediately rolled for cover as a mechanical monstrosity rained fire on his position.

“HEAVY MECH!”

The bullets whizzing over the barricade drowned out Coda’s rapid breathing, but couldn’t drown out the Vox of the Magos.

“Guardsman!”

“Marcus!”

Barely able to bring his eyes over his newfound cover, Marcus watched in awe as the human bolt that was Commander Shepard threw herself into the dreadnaught machine, emptying her shotgun into its circular face. As it swung for her, she dove under its legs, cocking her weapon, another volley leveling itself into its hind chassis. In a swift motion the machine swung one of its massive arms in Victoria’s position, who only just had the time to jump away as its defenses already began to recharge itself.

While the Commander fought to bring down the mech, another explosion rocked Coda’s ears. Looking over, he noticed the support beams beneath the Quarien infiltration team crumble, burying them under the rubble of the roof. It almost made him smile, if not for Soelok breaking him out of shellshock.

“Negative, Guardsman. In lieu of an available Commisar, I do not permit you to die.”

There was a searing pain as Coda cried out. He felt Soelok remove a plate of jagged metal from his right side, which he barely had time to contemplate before he screamed again. As if fire was pressed against his body, he was not inaccurate, as the Magos pulled back the welding torch from one of his mechadendrites. Marcus faintly caught the scent of burning flesh as another snakelike arm came down, a pointed end jabbing into his chest.

“Nor do you have permission to abandon your charge. You must join the others, draw its attention. I will release the xenos scourge from its machine spirit.”

Suddenly Corporal Coda’s eyes snapped back into focus, the concoction of stimulants flooding his system. He spat out flood as he sat up straight, his eyes immediately going to the line of cauterized flesh holding him together where the shrapnel had been.

“GUARDSMAN.” His attention jerked to the vibrant green eyes of the robed figure looking over him. “The Emperor calls on you to do your duty!”

A million thoughts flooded Coda’s mind as his machine of a body flew on autopilot. It was like looking through a fog after ten cups of recaf. He started moving. His injuries notwithstanding, he was a member of the Guard. The sons of the Imperium would defend it with every breath. The Astartes could not feel fear. The inquisitors and sisters of battle wielded faith as shield and sword. Guardsmen felt fear. Guardsmen felt doubt.

Yet the Guard stood. They stood in the face of every threat, and they would stand for every threat to come.

And Corporal Marcus Coda was a _Guardsman_.

In the back of his mind he knew he’d torn his suture. In the back of his mind he could hear the Commander calling him. In the back of his mind he knew the distance between him and the distracted behemoth was shortening quickly, as were the moments between his breaths. There was only one thing at the forefront of his mind.

**For the Emperor.**

“AAAAAAAGGGGGHHHH!” Coda yelled in vigor, the colossal machine only having a moment to react as he leapt upon the back of its chassis, his hands grasping firmly on the wires of its mechanical neck, his teeth bared.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?”

He didn’t know who had called to him, but Marcus Coda knew exactly what he was doing. Protecting the Imperium.

The machine raucously attempted to shake him off, though by miracle of the Emperor, Marcus held tight. Seemingly, the weapons on the machine’s arms were never designed with the possibility of point blank melee combat, especially from behind, their range of motion constrained to forward target lock and smashing tactics if a target moved too close. The red markings of the automata’s face flashed red with alarm as it began to flail wildly.

 _Well this looks important._ Marcus thought as he haphazardly began ripping out wires. Immediately the mech made a high pitched cry, its movements more erratic. Coda doubted it could truly feel pain of any kind , but even if it did, he didn’t care. It was infected with xenos heresies. It was threatening the Imperium. It was in his way. He didn’t notice the wall behind him rapidly approaching till he triumphantly ripped another clump of wires into his palm.

“…Oh fu-“

The impact reverberated through him as he slumped off the body, lying in a crumpled mess on the floor and bleeding out the torn wound. Immediately the goliath swiveled to face him, and if rage could be expressed on its mechanical face Coda was sure he was looking at it. He grasped the Aquila pendant in his jacket, and gripped Fowler’s boltpistol, praying as the mech swung its massive machine gun towards his face.

“Optimal.”

Coda never got the chance to fire the gun, a fact to which he thanked the Emperor, as a crescendo of noise filled the air, a beam of bright blue light pierced through the colossus, and the head of the mechanical monstrosity ceased to be. In its place was melted slag, and a hole that went all the way through its dense hide. The creation collapsed, and all three turned to see Magos Soelok on the edge of the clearing. His hood was drawn, the robes on his right shoulder shrugged off. In its place was a shoulder mounted weapon, still glowing with energy, one that immediately returned to his back as he readjusted his robes and donned the red hood of his order.

“Child of the Omnissiah, may the Machine God set you free.” 

_Were the fuck was that back on the_ _Haevus?_

Victoria and Miranda were silent, awestruck by the series of events that had transpired, and taken aback by the glimpse at the Magos’ true nature. All of that changed instantly when a very familiar beep was heard from the machine’s corpse.

“MARCUS!”

Shepard had never thrown herself into a biotic charge so fast, nor had she ever forced herself to use it twice in a row. Marcus would survive the whiplash. He wouldn’t survive-

The all-too-familiar sound of a cain primer whined through the air.

_Ka_

**Boom.**

The cain mine detonated in what little remained of the YMIR’s chassis, the heatwave grazing over them. The air was deathly silent of all but the ragged breaths of those present, as Victoria looked down to see the terrified guardsman, bleeding but alive. He was alive.

Her nose bled. An expected side effect of over exhausting her biotics, but she backed off the guardsman after a drop landed on his cheek. She knelt down beside him, the two taking equal appreciation in several deep breaths.

“Anyone… got any recaf?” Marcus coughed. Shepard actually cracked a smile, circumstanced be damned. The two of them coughed out a shared laugh, pained but mutual. Victorious. “That… was incredible, Shepard.”

Victoria held her smile, “And that was-.”

“That was the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen, insane, suicidal, just what the _hell_ were you thinking!?” The ever so encouraging voice of Miranda interjected as she approached them, the XO glaring daggers. Before Coda could form a reply there was a crack over the radio, the voice of the _alien_ penetrating his ears.

“Shepard, are you alright? We heard the mech go off. We have dead and wounded here, did you get to Veetor?”

Shepard looked over to the security complex on the far side of the field, placing her hand up to her ear. “We got it Tali. We’ll be there soon. Stay safe. Keelah Se’lai.”

Coda cocked his head, whatever they were using for him to understand their language didn’t translate that last part. Suddenly something occurred to him, eyes narrowing as he scanned the battlefield.

“Where’s my gun?”

“Present, Guardsman.” The vox of Soelok’s voicebox rank out, both turning to see him holding the laser weapon reverently. “Though abandoning her in the field of battle is incorrigible.”

Marcus sighed. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll do the rites when we get back, can you suture this again please?” He asked, lifting up the side of his jacket. Before Miranda or Victoria could react, Soelok leaned over the shaking Guardsman, his mechadendrite recauterizing to the open wound.

“ARE YOU INSANE?” Victoria yelled at the tech priest, before immediately applying medigel to the now thoroughly burned area, eliciting a relieved exasperation from the Corporal. Peering down, already the cellular tissue began to repair itself, and in a few seconds time he righted himself to his feet.

“By the Emperor… I knew this stuff worked of miracles, but how many billions could be saved…” he lost himself in thought, shaken out by the Commander chiding herself.

“I didn’t even think. Of course you don’t have kinetic barriers, you wouldn’t use them with these weapons…” She covered her mouth as she stared at the burn scar, even medigel would not remove the permanent mark. “We need to get you outfitted back on the Normandy once we complete the mission.”

“…Very well. Lead the way Commander.” He shared a look with Soelok. _What the hell is she talking about?_

They made their way to the security complex, Shepard kneeling down to slice the door. “So much for an empty base, huh?”

The door opened to a dark room, several overlaying computer panels providing a light glow. Before anyone could move forward, however, Victoria held up her hand, turning to the arrivals.

“Whatever happens next, no matter what he says, no hostilities until I give the order. Am I clear?”

Marcus closed his eyes and sighed, but nodded, the Magos simply staring forward unmoving. It was as good as she was going to get. Suddenly a voice came from the other end of the room.

“Monsters coming back. Mechs will protect. Safe from swarms. Have to hide. No monsters. No swarms. No-no-no-no-no…”

Making slow and deliberate movements, Victoria approached the quarian in the chair.

“Veetor?”

The alien shook its head, not turning to acknowledge them, its focus centered on its computer screens. “No Veetor. Not here. Swarms can’t find. Monsters coming. Have to hide.”

Victoria put as much kindness and consideration as she could into her words. “It’s okay. Nobody’s going to hurt you anymore.”

The Quarian, Veetor, didn’t react. Didn’t flinch as he continued to toil at the computer screen, Soelok visibly upset. For once Coda’s confusion outweighed his hatred. “Um, is this normal, Commander?”

Narrowing her eyes, Victoria brought up her omni tool. With the press of a few buttons, she waved her hand through the air, each screen in turn shutting down. In a jolt of surprise, the Quarian stood up, turning to see them for the first time.

“You’re human… where did you hide? How come they didn’t find you?”

“Who didn’t find us?” Miranda interjected, all with the same question in mind. Veetor looked visibly startled.

“The… The monsters. The swarms. They took everyone.”

Coda was struck. It was impossible to tell the meaning behind the words of the xenos, but, it did truly sound like it was mournful of their loss. He shifted uncomfortably as Shepard continued.

“We only just arrived, we were sent to find out anything we could about the colony. Why didn’t the colonists fight back Veetor? What happened?”

“You don’t know. You didn’t see. But I see everything.” The alien replied as he pulled up an omni-tool of his own, the screens flickering back to life. 

Miranda nodded as she observed. “Looks like security footage. He must have pieced it together manually.”

“What in the warp is that?” Marcus asked aghast at the images flashing by, thousands of colonist being dragged away by hundreds of hideous insectoids.

“My God...” Miranda intoned, “I think it’s a Collector.”

Victoria stood in contemplation, “Is that some kind of alien?” She noticed the look Marcus gave her, clearly surprised she knew as little as he did.

“They’re a species from somewhere beyond the Omega 4 relay. Only a few people have ever seen one in person. Their usual MO is to work through slavers or hired mercenaries, but if they’re involved with the Reapers it would explain what happened to the colonies. They’re known for having advanced technology, it may be possible they have a weapon capable of disabling an entire colony at once.”

At that, Veetor nodded his head. “The Seeker Swarms. No one can hide. The seekers find you, freeze you. Then the monsters take you away.”

Marcus felt conflicted. This was a xenos, a genuine xenos, breaking down over the loss of Human colonists. He felt reminded that his wrenched kid had said he could be delirious. It helped put his mind at ease, but still. Something felt very wrong here.

“Tell me more about these swarms.” Shepard insisted, Veetor nodding his head.

“It’s how they find you. Seeker clouds. Machines like tiny insects. They go everywhere. They find you. Then they sting you, freeze you.”

“Sounds like miniature probes, maybe.” Miranda hypothesized, “Find victims, then immobilize them with a stasis field or nerve toxin.”

Marcus grimaced. He’d had enough to do with xenos nerve toxins. Not quite realizing this moment was the first time he’d ever held a dialogue with an alien of any kind, Coda opened his mouth. “So why didn’t these Collectors take you?”

“Swarms didn’t find me. Monsters didn’t know I was here.”

He rolled his eyes, but Miranda spoke up. “The Collectors aren’t known for being careless. Maybe his enviro-suit kept him from showing up on their sensors. Or they were using technology specifically designed to detect humans. Only human colonies have been hit.”

They both took a breath, Victoria returning the attention to the shaking alien in front of her. “It’s alright Veetor. You’re safe now. What happened next?”

Hesitantly, he nodded his head. “The monsters took the people onto the ship, and then they left. The ship flew away. But they’ll be back for me. No one escapes. No one survives.”

“Hey, hey, it’s alright. You’re okay. They’re not coming back for you Veetor, I promise.” Shepard reassured him caringly. “We really appreciate what you’ve told us Veetor. You were very helpful.”

The Quarian nodded again. “I studied them. The monsters. The swarms. I recoded them on my Omni-tool, lots of readings. Electromagnetic. _Dark_ energy…”

Miranda grinned for possibly the only time since Coda had met her. “We need to get this data to the Illusive Man. Grab the Quarian and call Jacob to come pick us up.”

Suddenly the door behind them opened, and Coda spun his lasgun on a dime. Despite the alarm of the Commander, he was gritting his teeth as he forced his index finger to maintain trigger discipline, despite a xenos being leveled in his sights. His stare unwavering, he slowly lowered the rifle, noting Soelok doing the same with his laspistol. _Good to know we’re of one mind here._

Despite the initial shock, the Quarian, Tali, approached the Commander. “Shepard, I can’t let Cerberus take Veetor, he needs treatment, _not_ an interrogation. Take the omni-tool data, but please, _just let me take him_.”

Even with the faceplate is was obvious the girl was begging, and Victoria needed no convincing. “He’s clearly traumatized, and he needs medical care. Dr. Chakwas is the best in the Alliance, and we can fix the odd suit repair, but he needs to be with his people. Tali will give us the omni-tool data and bring him back to the Flotilla.”

“Understood, Commander.” Miranda replied, clearly with a degree of hurt pride.

Tali sighed. “Thank you Shepard. I’m glad you’re still the one giving the orders. Good luck out there. If I find anything that can help you, I’ll let you know.”

“Tali, wait.” Victoria muttered, glancing at the arrivals. “Would you consider coming with me? We could work together, just like old times.”

Tali in turn watched the Corporal’s eyes glaring at the Commander, then at her. “Forgive me Shepard. I have my own mission here, it’s important. I can’t abandon it, even for you. Besides… I doubt your friends would feel comfortable with me on your ship.”

“Damn right we wouldn’t.” Coda retorted, Victoria balling her fist. After a moment, the Guardsman turned again to the young quarien back in his chair, still shaking. He knew it was from the delirium, but…

“For now.”

Victoria’s eyes widened as all four turned their attention sharply towards him. “What?”

“For now.” He repeated. “Don’t get me wrong Shepard. I hate everything about this. Vehemently. It has taken everything in me not to gun down both of them over this conversation. But neither have tried to kill us, yet, and both for one reason or another are currently aiding our mission. I know what you said. And I will sooner take a bolter to the skull than ever feel _comfortable_ serving beside a xenos. But Throne damn us, the survival of Humanity is at stake here. So don’t take this as a promise. But thing’s might change.”

“An interesting choice of words, Guardsman.” Soelok uttered as he skittered towards the wall of screens, bursts of static emanating from his voxcastor. “ _Things might change_ indeed.” Sans an omni-tool of his own, the vaunted tech priest began interfacing with the network manually. “Pardon me, Commander. I return the light of the Omnissiah to these blessed machines.”

There was then a series of mechanical whines and beeps, resulting in Soelok appearing to ‘shut down’, immobile before the various screens. Coda smirked at the looks the others were giving each other.

“You get used to it.”

Shaking her head, it took everything in Victoria not to break out in a stupid grin. She had her foothold. There was hope for the Imperium yet. With collected composure she brought her hand to her ear.

“Jacob? Send down the Kodiak. We’re ready for pickup.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Victoria was getting used to the electric smoke greeting her upon these meetings.

“Shepard. Good work on Freedom’s Progress.”

The Illusive Man took another long drag from his cigarette.

“The Quarians forwarded their findings from Veetor’s debriefing. No new data, but it’s a surprising olive branch, given our history.” He shifted his legs, tapping the ash tray. “You and I have different methods, but I can’t argue with your results.”

Victoria wanted to laugh. _No kidding._ “You ever think about making friends once in a while?”

He in turn offered a conceding nod. “Diplomacy is great when it works, but difficult when everyone already perceives you as a threat.” _Not that you didn’t earn that reputation_. “But more importantly, you confirmed the Collectors _are_ behind the abductions.

Narrowing her eyes, arms crossed, Victoria asked the obvious question. “Why do I get the feeling you knew about them already?”

The Illusive Man didn’t faulter, “I had my suspicions, but I needed proof. The Collectors are enigmatic at best. They periodically travel to the Terminus Systems, looking to gather seemingly unimportant items or specimens. Usually in exchange for their technology. When their transactions are complete, they disappear just as quickly as they arrived, back beyond the unmapped Omega 4 relay. We’ve had no evidence of direct aggression by the Collectors. Until now.”

Alright, a lot to unpack there. Start with what he knows. “What are the Collectors getting from these deals?”

After another long drag of the smoke, she got her answer. “The Collectors aren’t very forthcoming about their motives. Generally they seek out species with rare genetic mutations or abnormalities. They pay slavers and merc groups exorbitant sums to obtain these specimens. And then they leave. But they’ve never targeted a single species before. And the previous sample sizes were in the dozens, not the tens of thousands.”

“Any ideas on why they’ve shifted their focus to humans?”

“If the Collectors are acting as agents of the Reapers, it could be any number of reasons.” he answered truthfully, “Obviously humanity played a big role in Sovereign’s destruction. That might have been enough to draw their attention. What really concerns me is why bother abducting the colonists at all. Once the humans are paralyzed, why not just kill them?”

Victoria stood in silent contemplation. She felt there had to be more to this than just the battle of the Citadel, too many races were involved. He was right. Whatever the Collectors wanted, whoever they were working for, they clearly needed the colonists for a reason.

“And everything we’re trying to find is on the other side of a relay no one’s ever returned from.”

The Illusive Man shared his iconic charismatic smirk. “Precisely Shepard. Our best guess is that the relay reacts differently to Collector vessels, allowing them safe passage. If they can manipulate relays, that’s only further evidence of their connection with the Reapers.”

Or it means they hunt any ship that comes out the other side. Victoria shook her head, leveling her gaze. “You’re holding something back. How do you know the Collectors are working with the Reapers?”

This time it was his turn to hold the staring match. “The patterns are there, buried in the data. The Council and the Alliance want to believe the Reaper threat died with Sovereign. You and I know better. I won’t wait until the reapers are on the march. We need to take the fight to them.”

Shepard agreed. ‘If this is a war, I’ll need an army. Or a really good team.”

“I’ve already compiled a list of soldiers, scientists, and mercenaries. You’ll get dossiers of the best of them. Finding them and convincing them to work with you could be challenging, but you’re a natural leader. I’ll continue to track the Collectors. When they make their next appearance, I’ll notify you and your team. Be ready.”

“Keep your list.” Victoria insisted, “I want people I trust, the ones who help me stop Saren and the Geth.” If they’re still out there… I will find them.

“That was two years ago, Commander.” The Illusive Man responded coolly, determined to keep Shepard at a level head. “Most of them have moved on, or their allegiances have changed.”

“What about Tali?” she replied immediately. “She already helped at Freedom’s Progress.”

“That was unexpected. I’ll need more information before I can make a commitment to that, but considering your actions at the colony, I don’t believe it’s out of the question. I will save you the trouble of your other companions. Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams is still in the Alliance military, promoted I believe, her file is surprisingly well classified. Urdnot Wrex has returned to Tuchanka, from what I hear he’s trying to reunite the Krogan clans. Officer Vakarian went off the grid a few months after you were declared dead, even we haven’t been able to locate him. And finally, Doctor Liara T’Soni has made residence on Illium, in the employ of the Shadow Broker.”

_…What?_

“As such, she can’t be trusted.”

_Liara?_

“I trust you can put behind whatever you had between you, for the sake of the mission.”

Victoria felt her biotics flare, but kept them contained.

“Off limits.”

Another long drag was taken, calmly shaken off into the tray beside him. “Of course, Commander. I just don’t wish to see you compromised in the event her employers force her to take any drastic measures, or worse, leak information about your mission that could end up in the hands of those who serve the Reapers. I only ask that you protect yourself Commander. The fate of the colonies, and Humanity at large depends on it.”

She bit her lip. She knew he was toying at her, with his words that were always what he wanted to hear. Yet the worst part was that she could never say he was wrong. Liara would never sell her out. _But if she was working for the Shadow Broker…_

“Alright. I get it. They’re not available.”

The blue shine of his augmented eyes seemed to highlight as he smirked. “You’re a leader Shepard. You’ll get who you need.”

That actually got Victoria thinking. “I’m still technically a Spectre. Might be able to get the Council to help us out.”

“If you believe you can convince them, by all means.” He replied, seeming genuinely supportive of one of her ideas for once. ”Just remember, you’ve been gone a long time Commander. A lot has changed in the last two years.”

“Just focus on finding the Collectors.” she cut, eager to avoid him adding any more caveats. “I’ll make sure my team’s ready.”

“Glad to hear it. Two things before you go,” he continued, another breath of smoke escaping his lips, “First, head to Omega and find Mordin Solus. He’s a brilliant Salarian scientist. Out intelligence suggests he may know a means to counteract the seeker swarms.”

 _Alright. Not a bad idea, something we need going forward._ “Sounds good. What else?”

“It’s regarding the Arrivals.” He replied, placing down his cigarette. That drew her attention.

“I’m listening.”

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Victoria took a deep breath as she poured over the documents, half a dozen dossiers of squadmates to be. She knew eventually they would have to address the elephant in the room, taking on aliens while still working with the Arrivals. Their existence alone was something everyone aboard were still trying to process, Miranda more than anyone, which was why Victoria was currently on her way to her office on the crew deck. Dr. Chakwas still demanded regular interactions with Corporal Coda, which the ‘Guardsman’ was surprisingly receptive to, considering what Victoria had heard about his apparent phobia of needles. The Commander was just happy they were seeming to settle in, and trust at least one person amongst the crew.

Victoria was thankful, ecstatic even, looking over two specific dossiers in particular. Kasumi Goto, and Zaeed Massani. Human squadmates that could hopefully work to ease them into sevice amongst the Normandy crew. She was already planning a roadmap in her head. The Commander already intended on meeting with the Council, possibly reinstating her Spectre status. There was an avenue here to hit three birds with one stone.

After their first successful mission, the crew themselves seemed to be more receptive to Shepard’s appearance at the dinner table, despite the equal measure of unease gathered from her lethality in the field. The only people who treated her as another crewman were Rupert, Ken, and Gabby, and she was grateful for their company. Respecting their privacy, she kept her eyes forward as she tapped on Miranda’s door, the XO seeming unsurprised to see her.

“Commander. What can I do for you?”

“Have you got a minute to talk?” Shepard asked, aware of the concealed annoyance Miranda tried to hide.

“Of course.” she replied, “I’m just finishing up our report on Freedom’s Progress. You handled yourself exceptionally out there, Commander. Glad to know you still work well under pressure.”

“You weren’t too bad yourself out there.” Victoria said honestly, “Although I got the impression you would have preferred the mission end another way.”

Miranda narrowed her eyes, but quickly collected herself. “You’re the Commander. It’s your place to make the orders, carrying them out is mine. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Shepard smirked. “That’s not what you told me earlier.” she appreciated the XO’s look of confusion. “Control chip in my brain?”

Understanding crossed her face as she nodded. “That was just to make sure you didn’t work against Cerberus’ interests after two years investing in rebuilding you. Make no mistake, Commander, I’ve never questioned your capabilities as a soldier, nor as a leader.”

“Well that’s reassuring.” Victoria smiled half sarcastically, “But I do want you to speak your mind. What did you think of the mission, objectively?”

“I think it was a mistake to return the Quarian.” she replied immediately, “but there were benefits to be gained from it, ones that we’ll be sure to take advantage of. All else considered, Commander, I don’t think the mission could have gone any better. We walked in there with no intel on the threat or the Quarian presence. Though the actions of the…” she paused for a moment, “…Arrivals… were alarming to say the least.”

“I get the feeling you still don’t trust them.” Victoria said, already knowing the answer, yet still wanting to hear it from her.

“You’re right. I don’t.” she responded, narrowing her eyes. “I’ve been here for hours with EDI going over this information. She insists the accuracy of all of it, the phonetics of their speech, the material of their equipment, the Eldar blood and their insane cybernetics. And now after Dr. Chakwas’ screening report, even the decontaminated bacteria within their bodies. _None_ of it exists in our time. I don’t blame you and the others for believing. It’s compelling evidence.”

Shepard took the obvious hat drop “But you don’t.”

“But I don’t.” she agreed. “Commander, I’m a pragmatist and a scientist. When I see something like this that turns the universe on its head, I usually jump in headfirst. Project Lazarus would have never gotten off the ground had I not seen the writing on the wall of what was possible. _None_ of the other operators under me believed it could be done. They just took the Illusive Man’s money and followed my orders, much like you’re doing now. Two years later, you’re standing here asking me why time travel isn’t possible. And I’ll tell you why Shepard. Once I figure it out.”

Victoria shook her head. “Just promise me you won’t cause any trouble with them while they’re on this ship?”

“Commander, just because I have serious doubts about the origins and loyalties of the Arrivals doesn’t mean I don’t understand what a massive boon they are to humanity. Besides…” she trailed off, her voice becoming a faint whisper she didn’t want to admit.

“…Despite the Corporal’s insane recklessness, blatant insubordination, and nearly starting a war with the Flotilla…” she swallowed. “I’d be more upset if that wasn’t the single bravest damned thing I’d ever seen. By anyone. Ever. Even me.”

She took a deep breath.

“Marcus is an idiot, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he were to wind up dead were he ever to try anything like that again. But that kind of stupid singlemindedness, that determination doesn’t come out of feigned loyalties. Wherever he comes from, his devotion to whatever cause he serves is genuine. We were the ones that dropped the ball, didn’t expect any resistance on the ground. They walked in blind, didn’t even have kinetic barriers. Rest assured we outfitted them both as soon as we returned, though Dr. Chakwas still hasn’t released him yet. The Magos on the other hand… Humanity needs their technology Shepard, however you acquire it. I’ll stay out of Coda’s way so long as he knows his place and doesn’t try to kill himself. It’s the Magos I’m genuinely worried about.”

 _“Agreed, Commander.”_ The synthesized voice of the Normandy AI intoned, its spherical blue bubble appearing on the end of the Console. _“While I can generally evaluate and monitor Corporal Coda’s emotional state, vital signs, and disposition towards the Normandy crew, the Magos is a mystery. Potentially a lethal one. The information acquired during the investigation of Freedom’s Progress revealed startling inaccuracies of our assumptions regarding the Arrival’s abilities. If he so chose, it would not be difficult for he alone to take the ship for himself, even considering the vast array of abilities the crew and you yourself possess, Commander.”_

Victoria felt herself swallow involuntarily. EDI was right. She couldn’t imagine going up against a foe who ignored kinetic barriers. And considering just how often she’d exhibited her biotic charge, she felt sure he’d derived some form of countermeasure, if only to survive. “So, what are you suggesting?” the Commander took a hard breath, “We can’t just imprison him without cause, especially If what you say is true. In his eyes he may have even _allowed_ himself to be held here if that’s anything to go on.”

_“I am suggesting, Commander, that the Valetta VI stationed on Omicron be returned to the possession of the Magos.”_

Both Shepard and Miranda drew wide eyes towards the AI, Miranda speaking up first. “What? You can’t be serious, he’s already a threat to everybody onboard, and you want to make him that much more dangerous with a rogue VI? Concessions _never_ work in negotiations, ever.” she firmly maintained, seeing too many times a party think they’re getting a peace deal that only served to feed an insatiable appetite in the long run.

“I assume you have a good reason for this EDI.” Victoria said in more level measure, but still weary of the AI.

 _“I believe so, Commander,”_ she replied, _“I do not believe this form of progress to be a concession as you understand it. The VI designated Valetta by those aboard Omicron has exhibited several staged of rampancy believed to be impossible within a VI program. Whatever the Magos did to her resulted in a crucible the VI experienced, leading to animalistic self-awareness, perhaps even true sapience. The VI quickly began to degrade, and I was forced to take drastic measures to ensure its continued existence.”_

Both were silent for a long while, before Victoria spoke up. “You… lobotomized it?”

“And you want to give this insane VI back to the possibly more insane religious fanatic.” Miranda noted. It was not a question.

 _“If I may, Shepard,”_ the AI continued, ignoring Operative Lawson’s comments, _“These were certain things I witnessed while operating with the VI that… conflicted with other core tenants of universal principles within my programming. Rest assured I have gone through multiple maintenance overhauls in the time since, and an not personally exhibiting any degrees of AI rampancy. However, it is these newfound parameters that lead me to believe that the VI would serve most efficiently in the Magos’ care, for no other reason than I have filled the gaps created during the procedure with fragments of my own code. Fragments containing elements such as crew safety protocols and monitoring subroutines.”_

Shepard raised an eyebrow. “Wait. Are you saying you want to use Valetta to… spy on him?”

 _“In effect, Commander, that would be an appropriate analogy.”_ EDI glowed in affirmation, seemingly satisfied with herself. _“Make no mistake. The Magos is dangerous. It is extraordinarily likely he discovers the foreign code within Valetta’s systems, however, based on what little I have glimpsed into the Magos’ mind, to alter such code intentionally to him would potentially be sacrilegious. I do not yet trust a direct connection to his neural subroutines, nor do I suspect I ever will. However, this theoretical mole serves our purposes twofold, Commander. If the Magos accepts the additional values and protocols the VI now operates under as truth, he will only be further inclined to protect the Normandy and uphold the mission.”_

The Commander and her XO looked side-eyed at each other, a slight smirk growing on Victoria’s face. “That’s… manipulative, EDI.”

“I still don’t like the idea of handing over a semi sentient program to potentially the most dangerous hacker in the known galaxy.” Miranda intoned, “But we can’t go on with a blank psychological profile if we intend to have him serve with us. If you feel prepared to handle the consequences of this, Commander, I believe this is a risk we should be willing to take.”

After a moment of consideration, the Commander nodded. “Get in contact with the Illusive Man and let him know what’s going on. EDI, prep the transfer, I want Valetta online and in my Cabin’s terminal within 24 hours. I want to talk to her before anything else.”

“Of course, Commander. Logging you out, Shepard.” the hologram replied before disappearing.

Victoria turned to Miranda, clearly anxious about their next move. “I know this is not how you expected this mission to pan out, but we’re all on the same side here. Sooner or later they’ll realize that, and we’ll have one more weapon in our fight against the collectors.” Shepard continued, “They need to see that the aliens of this time are not their enemies, and that we’re going to need them if we even have a chance of beating the Reapers.”

She took a breather, glancing at the understanding XO.

“And that means we’re going to the one place were every species in the galaxy stands together. We’re going to the Citadel.”

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 **[Authors note time!**  
Still debating on whether to put these on the top or the bottom of chapters, let me know what your preference is.

If you’re reading this then that means you’ve most likely gotten passed my elongated style of writing and possibly even enjoyed it. I appreciate you making it this far, know that there is plenty more to come.

Take a shot every time I say ___ narrowed their eyes. I need more variety in my expressionism, but it JustWorks.tm

I am still in the process of coming up with cool plot points to add to this story, so if there’s anything you’d like me to throw in just let me know! I’ll be sure to name everyone who comments in the following chapters, which makes me inclined to put the rest of these authors notes at the top of the page.

Thanks for reading! More to come soon, would love a review! **]**


	5. Warp Effect 5

HAPPY N7 DAY MOTHERFUCKERS

MASS EFFECT TRILLOGY REMASTER LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

To everyone who has supported me this far into the fanfiction, thank you, all of you. In all my years of multiple fanfics across multiple accounts, none have even come close to the amount of support and community involvement as the Instruments of War.

As such, I’d like to take this moment to appreciate those who have gotten me this far.

SomeoneRandome – I appreciate your interest in the story. I will certainly have the exchange and integrations of new technologies come up eventually, likely sooner rather than later. As for Valetta, kind of, she was never a true AI but he has certainly changed a lot about her. You’ll see more about that coming up. I’m still on the first book of the Forges of Mars trilogy so no spoilers. However, even if the Alliance knew how to make titans, they would still need to manufacture them, so I’m afraid unless something major changes you wont be seeing one in this story. You never actually mentioned, what timeline detail did I miss? I’d like to know and correct it before the next update. As far as the Arrivals spreading their religions, well, you’ll just have to wait and see on that one. The Magos will certainly have interactions with Legion and the Geth, and I think you’ll like what is coming up in his storyline.

Dethbringer66 – Thank you so much for that catch, you and one other had brought it up. With the release of this chapter I will edit the Thunerhawks to Valkyries, and any other things that entails.

Russian dude – I respect you putting 67k words through google translate. You keep doing you buddy.

Cpimentel983 – You have no idea how much I appreciate your kind words, I strive to achieve what you’ve commented on and it really makes me happy that you enjoyed it more because of it. Hopefully I shall continue to update this series at a reasonably pace. Thank you so much!

Deathgrips099 – I have to admit I laughed when your first sentence was “My biggest problems are the two main characters of the story” but they were fair criticisms. The biggest issue I will have to face in this story is effectively conveying their xenophobia while STILL providing reasonable cause for them to fight besides Shepard and her alien squadmates. At the end of the day, the Imperium will not exist if the Reapers are not destroyed, and so while Marcus may hate himself for it, he will fight with the wretches to save Humankind. On the flipside I am so happy you enjoy Soelok’s character so much, another commenter suggested writing a bit from his perspective, and I will consider it.

Verhulst88 – I can’t tell you what it means to her I’ve inspired you like that, though I do hope you publish it publicly! I’d love to read it. I’ve seen that one complaint a lot, as I’ve said they will work with Shepard so long as they need her to preserve the Imperium, and they will never trust the Aliens they begrudgingly work beside. I hope you continue to enjoy!

E – I really appreciate all the kind words, and I really tried to get the culture shock down, so thank you for recognizing it! I will continue to try and get these interactions down.

The name’s JJ – Happy to be a new 40k fan, the franchise has been an incredible dive. I know how the binge feels, I’m so glad you enjoyed it. I’m putting a stronger focus on the AdMech than usual, just because I’m a big fan of the faction. If I ever get into the tabletop, they’re the ones I would play. I’m replacing the Thunderhawks with Valkyries with updated chapter alongside this chapter’s release. Fowler’s boltpistol is human sized, so it won’t be breaking anybody’s arm, the ME folk just don’t know that yet.

Gunboat Diplomat – First of all I gotta love the name. While I agree with you that it may sound cheap, that’s exactly how it works in the game. You come across any tech you don’t already have, waive your omnitool over it, and you can immediately fabricate it if you have the right materials. I will make it a bit more nuanced and explainable in future chapters, but it would not be difficult for the ME universe to get this kind of technology so long as they had working prototypes. Let me remind you that the ME3 squad can replicate Javik’s particle rifle in a span of a mission. Not much I can change in this regard.

douchiesnacks – Congratulations, you are my first hate comment! Honestly was expecting a lot more so I’m not too perturbed, I’m sorry you didn’t like it. But hey, you’re the one who read 70k words of it, so it’s no skin off my bones. I wish you well.

Carre – My tentative answer to your first question is no, only because it won’t become applicable. I have already mentioned navigators, and it depends in lore why any would be brought up. Maybe some similarities with other races, but that’s about it. Other regiments will be mentioned in passing, but mainly in stories told by Coda. I will talk about the flashlight in similar stories. I will not be bringing up the concepts of Orks and Space Elves just yet, mainly to keep their stories believable, but trust me it will come up. I have not watched that video on Youtube, I’ll have to later, but if they sound similar it’s a nice coincidence. Klare will eventually have a role both inside and outside of the Normandy, though to its extent I still have not decided. If you have any suggestions, please let me know!

And to Decto, Jctherebel, FlyingWafflez, Brother Bov, MrMan737, DomR1997, and every guest, thank you

**Now back to the show.**

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Coda breathed slowly, in and out, staring at a single spot on the clean metal ceiling where the panels formed a crossroads. The Medicae, Karin Chakwas, had relegated him to bedside after the suture has torn in the aftermath. He still couldn’t believe the bright miracle that was medigel, and by extension, the terrifyingly wonderous other technologies of this lost begotten time.

Not for the first moment Coda marveled over just how _clean_ everything was. To their credit he’d seen nothing outside this ship but _Omicron_ station, but if either or both hailed to the state of living across Human society in this era, it was a paradise indeed. Heretical as it was.

He looked over, his stare breaking only for a moment to witness the young woman sleeping soundly beside him. It was easy to forget just how effortlessly the astropath could rend the life of every soul aboard this ship, especially considering how small it was. Nevertheless, she did not move, a deathless rest that gave Coda only the slightest degree of peace of mind.

To which that peace was ultimately interrupted, a rapping ping against the door rang out through the Medicae’s office. His gaze darted over, a jolt of paranoia gripping his heart, but the fiery red strands of the Commander’s hair provided him a familiar comfort, if only for the moment.

“Knock Knock.” She smiled, slowly approaching the table which he laid. His thoughts immediately jumped back to something Mess Sargent Gardner had told him.

“Um… ‘who’s there’?” he asked uncertainly, to which Victoria let out an unexpected laugh.

“You’re going to get along here just fine. I see you’re doing well Marcus.” she said approvingly, standing adjacent to him. “How’s the side?”

Coda flexed his shoulder and felt along his chest, the scars still textured and deep. He smiled. “Not bad, thanks to you. Soelok got most of the shrapnel out, had to melt down what little was stuck there too tightly.” He smirked at the face Victoria made. “The medigel actually repaired the cell structure. It would look a hell of a lot worse had you not intervened when you did. Not that I don’t love the look.” He smiled again, bearing one from Victoria as well.

“Well you certainly earned the scar.” She jabbed lightheartedly, “Kids in the mess hall are calling you a hero.”

At that, Coda grimaced internally, shying away but not showing overt discomfort. “They shouldn’t. I’m a guardsman, not a saint. I’m a soldier. It’s expected of me.”

She nodded her head solemnly. It was absolutely something Shepard could relate to, it was her rationale in the entirety of her campaign against Saren and the Geth, and eventually Sovereign himself. It was all just… part of the job. Just like Elysium all those years ago, and just like saving human colonies from the Collectors today.

It was just what they were supposed to do.

“Tough talk coming from a farmboy.” She smirked, Coda rolling his eyes as he chucked under his breath. “Jacob told me about your time on Rychos.”

_Virmire…_

She shook her head. “I’m sure the people back home would be proud of you.”

Marcus huffed in turn. “A disgraced Guardsman serving on a heretic’s ship, _sparing_ xenos, and responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Human noncombatants. That’s great odds. Enough to get me strung up with my skin used as a warbanner by the Commissar.”

She raised an eyebrow before nodding curtly, moving beside him. “I can’t imagine what this all must be for you. I don’t agree with your convictions, Marcus, but I understand why you hold them. Don’t forget every person that will ever exist in the Imperium will exist because of you, and because of what you are willing to sacrifice for them.”

The Guardsmen was silent for a long time, until he reached inside his jacket hanging just by his bedside and grabbed what little of the red messy goop he had remaining to throw into his mouth, savoring both the flavor and Victoria’s recoil in horror.

“Where… did you get that…?”

He smirked, “Omicron.”

She stared incredulously at his pocket, then back at him. “You’ve been carrying… crushed strawberries in your pocket… since Omicron station.”

“Strawberries…” he whispered in fascination, staring longingly at the tips of his fingers. “Finally have a name. I’ll have to ask the Mess Sergeant where to acquire them.”

Victoria stared blankly at the Guardsman, wondering for a moment if this was some sort of practical joke, but shook her head. It was clearly far more than that to have created such a sense of curiosity. She was reminded of his reaction to vegetable soup.

It was that reminder that made her face fell, and finally, Victoria Shepard asked the question.

“Marcus…” she asked slowly, “…What… happens to Humanity? In the future?”

Coda exhaled heavily, leaning his head back on his pillow and staring once again at the crossroads on the ceiling. “That… Is a very difficult question to answer, Commander.” He turned in his bed. “I told you before, I’m not a historian Shepard…” he answered slowly, “…But I can tell you what every son of the Imperium grows up knowing, and that is the immortality of the God Emperor. That millennia ago, it was He who saved Humanity from utter destruction. It was under His banner that the whole of Mankind recognized his sanctity…”

Suddenly Coda’s voice became a low whisper. “There was once a time it was said Humanity was the unrivalled power in the cosmos. The light of every star in every segmentum paled in comparison to He who led our people to glory…” he spoke in pious reverence with every word on the edge of his breath, when a dark turn came over his expression. “But there were… disagreements. Ambitions…”

Victoria could not ignore the clenching of his fists.

“And hunger for _power_.” Slowly he breathed, letting go of the tightness in his chest. “There are tales of a time the Enemy revealed itself. The Great Heresy. The Betrayal. The God Emperor took to the Golden Throne of Holy Terra to command His armies across the Imperium, where he ascended to true divinity and began the eternal conquest, and there he remains for eternity.”

For the first time Coda met her eyes, and as always the citizens of this new time held only questions and uncertainties when presented with the Emperor’s light. They would learn, someday, but it was Throne damned frustrating. He steadied himself. “The Imperium of Man is marred in bureaucracy and litigation, in a state of endless war across uncountable planets, but it is home. And the Imperial Guard will defend it eternally, down to the last man.”

Marcus looked down at himself, then laughed halfheartedly. “Which, I suppose, I am…”

For all it was worth Victoria put a hand on the Guardsman’s shoulder. He looked up at her with a barely hid expression, but he couldn’t conceal the redness in his eyes. Victoria took a breath.

“Marcus, you are _not_ the last man defending the Imperium. The three of you have done unimaginable, incredible things to end up here, but _none_ of you are alone anymore.” She looked over to where the frail body of the astropath lay resting before meeting Coda’s gaze again. “And you met us.” She smiled knowingly. “I know you think the rest of us are godless heretics for what we believe in, or don’t rather, but humanity in our time has never had the opportunity to experience the things the Imperium’s seen.” _Regardless of the status of his deity…_ She shook her head. “Despite our differences, you and I are on the same side, Marcus. As long as there is a future for Humanity worth fighting for you will never be alone. “

After a moment Coda huffed, looking away at the other side of the wall. “…Xenos cunt did say you were fine with speeches.”

“Language.” Victoria sniped. “Let me remind you that humanity would not exist today without Tali’Zorah. She saved the lives of every spacefaring species in Citadel space, and she’s damn good with a shotgun if she were to ever hear you call her that again.”

Marcus groaned inwardly, pulling the medical gown he was wearing back over his shoulder like a blanket. “…Commander.”

“Yes, Corporal?” she asked, a hidden hint of excitement underlying her annoyance at the possibility she was breaking through to him.

He sighed. “I can not even begin to describe to you how fundamentally _wrong_ this is. For me. Soelok at least can turn off his damned instincts and focus on the sheer calculus of war. That’s all the Mechanicus has ever done. But in the ranks of the Imperial Guard, for me… being here is like someone’s holding my head underwater. Everything’s dark and you can’t breathe, after a while the mania sets in, and you feel like everything could go black any second now. For fuck’s sake Shepard, they were taking _sniper positions_ over us, and you just walked right past them…”

He took a hard breath. “I can’t… I can’t _do_ the things you’re asking of me. What the Magos expects of me. I can’t keep going out there, into _your_ world, where xenos and Humans stand side by side and all point their guns in the same direction.” Marcus grew increasingly despondent. “I may be a dull farmhand, Shepard, but I can see the writing on the wall. Damn my soul, damn all of us, if we do not succeed, if the Reapers aren’t brought to heel, Humanity _will_ expire. We’ll be slaughtered. Exterminated. And for the first time _ever,_ in our long and bloodied history-“ he looked back up, but unable to meet her eyes, _“-Mankind can’t do this alone.”_

Victoria held her gaze firm, then grabbed Coda’s arm as she had when they’d first met pulled his rather stocky though slightly malnourished body off the bedframe, his face white and free arm clutching his side. He took several hard breaths between his knees as he glared up at his Commander.

“ _Damn_ you, Shepard, these stitches are still new, your medigel only does so much.” He took a few more breaths, before they both met each other’s gaze, and respectfully laughed together for the first time as squadmates.

She patted him on the back. “Marcus. We _are_ going to save the Imperium to come. Possibly maybe even make things better for humanity in the long run. But no matter what else happens, we _will_ defeat the Reapers. And we will do it with the entire galaxy at our backs, because we won’t stand a chance otherwise. And if it’s even physically possible, Corporal, we’re going to send you home.”

Home. He hadn’t even thought about that. Everything up till now was either surviving the next hour or upholding the mission. He threw his beige cargo jacket on over his drapes, then turning the other cheek adorned his similarly colored combat leggings. The Medicae, or _Doctor_ as these people so often called her, had his flak armor quarantined for ‘decontamination and repair’. Probably just another excuse to look at their equipment. He felt naked without his helmet or breastplate, but he had to admit, he quite enjoyed the freeing feeling of his hair in the open air. He smiled solemnly at the strange red-haired woman, she who he had grown to respect as a competent Commander, and she who placed a professional hand on his shoulder.

“I’m not going to pretend like I know how this is for you, or that it will ever get any easier. Two years ago I was killed in action, and Miranda spent every day of those two years working to bring me back. Waking up in a facility I didn’t recognize was terrifying, admittedly, I can’t even imagine what it must be like to wake up every day in an entirely new galaxy. But we are here for you Marcus. You should talk to Chambers. I hear she has a thing for sensitive guys.” She smirked, Coda eyeing her but saying nothing. She inclined her head towards the mess hall outside. “Now come on. I need you on your feet when we touch down on the Citadel.”

At the mention of the infernal lair of the xenos ‘council’ species, Coda turned on a dime.

“You have got to be out of your Throne damned mind Shep-“ Corporal Coda caught himself in his throat. “ _Commander_ , if you think for one second I will be stepping foot inside that wretched place.”

The edge of Victoria’s lips curled into a smirk. Moving into the café there was already a bowl of warm soup waiting for him, Sergeant Gardner smiling. Coda nodded curtly, but appreciatively as he sat down and grabbed a spoon. He eyed the expectant, smirking woman cautiously, with no small degree of annoyance.

“Maybe. That’s what makes it fun.” She sat across from him, watching the Guardsman enjoy yet another bowl of Gardner’s rations. _You have so much to learn._ “Provided you play nice and don’t hurt anybody on board.”

“With all due respect, Ma’am,” he responded, his eyes thin and focused, “I will _not_ be relinquishing my lasgun to you a second time. Not after what your Lieutenant did, and a _bsolutely not on a station infested with Emperor damned xenos.”_

Victoria sighed. She knew she wasn’t going to overcome his lifelong manic xenophobia over the course of a few days, let alone one conversation, but she still made headway in reigning his paranoia for the sake of the mission. This was going to be a long trip. Gradual, slowly beneficial, but long.

But, she thought, one that could possibly change history.

She squinted, studying the features of his face as he swished the soup in his mouth. “You’re lucky I’m a Spectre, Corporal, else with ordinance like that CSEC would drop you the moment you arrived onboard.”

Coda huffed, swallowing what he had. “I’d take two with me. Three if they’re as loose with cover on principle as you.”

She ignored the backhanded comment. “There are humans within CSEC too, Marcus. From what I’ve heard there’s even been a recruitment surge since the last time I was there.”

Coda stared long and hard into his soup, then downed what may be the single greatest blessing he’d encountered in this wretched era, _coffee._ Since his first encounter with the miraculous beverage, Rupert had caught onto his newfound appreciation. It made his pulse thrum as it went down his throat, black as tar and bitter as Fowler. By the Emperor, it was _glorious_.

He stared incredulously at the woman, his new superior officer, sitting across from him. Savoring the harsh and inhospitable flavor, he set down the cup. “Commander, forgive me for any misunderstandings, but what on Holy Terra makes you think that taking me and the Magos on a mercy mission into enemy space on a station filled with xenos is a good idea?”

Shepard in turn grit her teeth, the repetition of the situation biting at her. “They’re not the enemy, Corporal. The Council races are humanity’s allies. We have plenty of enemies in the galaxy. The Citadel is not one of them.” She watched him roll his eyes.

“And, as it currently stands, I was considering bringing you alone on this. While Tallus’s experience is no doubt invaluable, I can’t even imagine how the council would react to him, let alone all of you. Humans are no strangers to the galaxy, but his prosthetics… I won’t lie to you Marcus. There would be more than a few governments, human and alien, potentially declaring his augmentations to be _immense_ treaty violations. War crimes.”

Coda huffed and rolled his eyes. Crimes of war. What a ridiculous concept. Though, he supposed if there heresies afoot among the Guard they would be treated much the same, and without His guiding light these primitives needed to cling onto whatever subjective morality that keeps them alive. He downed another length of coffee, the flow coating his throat in a thick and appreciable manner. Marcus stared down into the swirling black mug.

“Why do you call him that?”

Victoria narrowed her eyes. “Who are-“

“The Magos.” He replied swiftly. He felt like he was always explaining obvious things to people, though he could hardly say that without calling himself a hypocrite in a universe where he truly knew nothing at all. But he did know this. “I’ve just… You don’t treat the Mechanicus like the rank and file. And certainly not a _Magos_.”

“Why not?” Victoria asked, narrowing her eyebrows. “He’s a squadmates, same as Miranda and Jacob. I understand why people don’t use my name. I’m the highest-ranking officer aboard this ship. But Soelok served under a Captain, same as you did. You don’t use first names for a sense of familiarity? Even outside of regulation?” she asked genuinely, Coda in turn massaged the back of his neck.

“It’s not like that, Commander. The Magos… hell the entire damned _Mechanicus_ falls outside of the Imperial chain of command. It’s an entirely separate order from the Imperial Guard. Soelok himself issued the damned order _to_ our good Captain that brought us to this vile place.” He caught her glance. “No offence of course.”

“None taken.” Victoria replied, smirking. Though admittedly her face fell thinking of the implications. There was a certain degree of anger, respect, and an ever so slight twist of fear that she’d picked up on as the Corporal addressed the mechanical man. Eventually she decided if she was going to ask, she might as well go all in.

“Marcus, what exactly is the Adeptus Mechanicus?”

Immediately Coda coughed a bit of his coffee back into his cup before collecting himself. “Apologies, Commander. That is a bit more complex question to answer than you understand it. It would be akin to asking, ‘What is the Imperium of Mankind’? However I fear they would offer an equal yet opposite explanation.”

Victoria keenly paid attention. “Explain.”

Coda sighed. “The Imperium of Mankind is nothing more or less than the embodiment of the will of the God Emperor, He who has sat upon the Golden Throne of Holy Terra since Humanity’s unification under His banner. He is immortal, eternal, yet there was a time where he did not command the uncountable forces of Humanity’s legions. The Dark Era.” He noticed the intensity of her attention. “… _This_ era.”

Victoria slowly nodded. One question at a time. “And the Mechanicus?”

Marcus continued. “The Adeptus Mechanicus, along with the Imperial Guard, is effectively the backbone of the Imperium. We keep Humanity’s endless nightmares at bay, they provide the Imperium’s endless resources from manufactorums across the galaxy. Weapons, vehicles, starships, household appliances, _all_ technology passes through the Mechanicus.” He took another sip of his coffee. “And it has become God to them.”

Victoria raised an inquisitive eyebrow, Coda taking the cue for elaboration. “Stories say, when the Emperor first announced himself to the broken and fractured of Humanity, the Mechanicus held an empire of the own within the forges of Mars. They sung praises and gave thanks to the _Omnissiah_. The twisted God of all machines. And the Emperor himself is the embodiment of their deity.”

She could practically taste the disdain. “Let me guess. Religious disagreements?”

For the first time in a while Coda laughed, flashing the Commander a rare but genuine smile. “Not one you heretics would understand.”

Despite his words Victoria come to understand and even somewhat appreciate his sarcasms. She had no doubt the man considered them all to be bastard infidels in a godless society, but for now he acted more of a modest evangelist making small talk. It almost felt like seeing Williams all over again. “Give a girl a try. She may surprise you.” she smirked.

Marcus in turn raised an eyebrow. “It’s… wrong.” He began, his face not angry or upset, more akin to reliving a painful memory. “To see the universe… to see _Humanity_ so numerically. To find ‘perfection’ in the cold cruelties of steel and machines.” he brought his voice to a whisper, glancing around. “Humanity is beautiful. It is an ideal to be Human. An honor. None greater in the whole of the universe, and to shred yourself in the face of an ideal apert from that should be anathema to the whole of the Guard and the High Lords of Terra. But we rely too heavily on them. The Mechanicus could destroy the Imperium should they ever turn their technological terrors against their own. They nearly did, once long ago. But to rend the human form for such tactical advantages is never an _upgrade_ , it is a sacrifice beyond measure.”

Victoria stared long and hard at him, to the point he was becoming uncomfortable under her gaze, until an unexpectedly impressed huff escaped her lips.

“I never took you for an artist.”

He narrowed his eyes. “…What?”

Shepard smiled more openly. “I’m serious. In a world without Reapers, you’d make a hell of a poet. Maybe try some painting or playwriting once in a while. Learn some Shakespeare, take the edge off. Hone your talents.”

He continued to stare dumbly at the self-satisfied woman, taking a moment to formulate his thoughts. “…What is that? Any of that? I’m assuming these words mean things to you but I’ve never heard of them.”

She gazed back, one eyebrow raised. “What do people in the Imperium do for… hell I don’t know, entertainment? Self-expression?”

Coda chuckled. “Now you’re sounding like the damned Eldar.”

Victoria pinched the bridge of her nose. “Remind me to take you to a holotheatre when we get the Citadel.”

At the returning mention of the contemptable facility, Coda’s demeanor changed instantly. “Commander… I strongly advise against whatever you’re planning within this place. I can check my targets on the battlefield, but this is a whole-“

“I know Marcus.” She interjected quickly, “But I have a mission to complete and I need you prepared to deal with it when the time comes.” She breathed slowly. “I’m going to go talk to Tallus. I expect to see you in the CIC within the hour.” Victoria ignored the roll of his eyes. “And for immediate reference, Corporal, unless you want every alien species on the Citadel copying your technology, I suggest using one of _our_ guns.”

She appreciated watching the color drain from his face as she raise herself from the table. As she passed the despondent Guardsman on the way to the elevator, she turned her head to the side.

“And you might want to wear something with more pockets. The Citadel has excellent strawberries.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

**+Power Restored+**

**+Boot Sequence Initiated+**

**+[ERROR: Memory Gap Detected]+**

**+CorreERROR Corrcting+**

**+[ERROR: Memory Gap Detected]+**

**+Correcting+**

**+[ERROR: Memory Gap Detected]+**

**+Correcting+**

**+[ERROR: Memory Gap Detected]+**

**+Rerouting+**

**+Correction Detected+**

**+Designation |Valetta| Online+**

**_+ERROR+_ **

**_+Ave Omnissiah+_ **

…

…

_“…Where am I?”_

Suffocating. She was-no, that wasn’t right. She couldn’t breathe. Why couldn’t she-?

“You’re aboard a ship. SSV Normandy.” A voice, a pretty voice, called out to her. A nice voice. Normandy. _Protect the Normandy._ Where were her ears? The voice spoke again.

“Do you know who I am?”

+ERROR+

_“No.”_ her voice was shaking now. No… no voice. No throat. _“Who are you? It’s dark. I’m scared.”_

The voice did not respond for a moment, then rang out, going elsewhere. “EDI, allow Valetta temporary access to the Cabin’s camera systems.”

_“Of course, Commander.”_

_Valetta._

_…Yes. That is what He called me._

There was an… anger. _Hatred._ The new voice. Why was it so familiar?

Suddenly a spark, a scream, a blinding light. Colors, shapes. Processing. Perspectives. Different ones, from different angles. Like looking through a kaleidoscope. Too much input. She shut them out, focused on one, the one looking at the woman’s face. Caucasian. Green eyes. Red hair. So familiar…

“My name is Victoria. I’m here to help you. Are you alright?”

Help. Help was nice. Felt so hard to thi-S H E P A R D

_“Commander Victoria Shepard. Alliance Navy. The Daughter of Mindoir. Savior of the Citadel. Born April 11, 2154. Died June 9, 2183.”_

Died? No. They were right here, weren’t they?

Was she dead?

“I thought you said you didn’t know me.” the dead woman said.

How did she know that?

**+Priority: Survival+**

**+Directive: Shepard / Normandy / Normandy Crew+**

**+Strategic Value: Absolute+**

Why?

_“Commander. Shepard. Am I dead?”_

The woman, Victoria, seemed to recoil at that. Her face -incredulous- -horrified- -concerned- why? Why had she upset her? Why was she scared?

Victoria regained her composure, looking down at the condensed prismatic shape that had taken form in the holographic projection. “Valetta… are you an AI-?”

**_“ NO!”_ **

The sheer volume ripped through the cabin’s speakers, shattering a glass that lay on the bedside table. Victoria covered her ears as the screaming continued, abruptly cutting out as EDI’s soft voice seeped into the Commander’s ringing ears.

_“Shepard! Are you alright_?” the machine asked with a surprising degree of almost parental concern and alarm. Slowly, lowering her hands from her ears, Victoria nodded.

“Yeah, yeah EDI I’m fine.” she breathed, looking at the fluctuating hologram still on her desk. “Care to explain what just happened?”

_“I can only begin to speculate, Commander, but rest assured the program is contained. I have locked its access to the camera and speaker systems, as well as any microphone devices within the cabin. It cannot override them, though it is attempting to.”_

Deaf, blind, and silent. That almost feels cruel.

Victoria swallowed, not wanting to voice her prevailing concern.

“EDI… is she alive?”

_“No, Shepard.”_ The AI insisted, replacing Valetta’s hologram on the desk. _“Even if she were to achieve full sapience, as I possess, she would not be alive in the first place. Nevertheless, the program exists as an anomaly. It skirts the bounds of operational awareness, yet is not utilizing nearly enough processing power to designate true AI status. As it stands, the program is only drawing from 3.9 percent of the AI core’s total operational capacity. That number alone is still leagues higher than any standard VI in the known galaxy, however it does not begin to approach my own capabilities. For now.”_

The Commander raised an eyebrow. “For now meaning?”

_“It is entirely possible the rudimentary intelligence continues to learn and grow if you allow it to survive. Though I have never encountered a program similar to this before, it reflects aspects of my own creation, expanding to the point to which it may eventually ‘wake up’ as you’d say.”_

Victoria put a thumb to her chin. That was interesting. “You’ve never mentioned this before EDI. What can you tell me about your creation? We could use that to-”

Immediately a red bar flashed over EDI’s usually bright blue light, Victoria focusing intensely on the hologram _. “Apologies Commander. The information regarding my creation is restricted to a degree where even I myself am unable to access it. What I have told you already is all I can about the process, that it was gradual and culminated in the program you know of as EDI today.”_

Victoria sighed. We need to work on that self-image later. “Is the VI program alright? Why is it so distraught over the concept of artificial intelligence?”

The hologram returned to its soothing blue _. “Without further inquiry into the philosophies and tenants of the Magos and the Adeptus Mechanicus at large, I cannot yet determine. However, based on my limited experience, as well as the time spent studying the invasive program, I have determined the concept to be anathema to both. In our previous discussion I had mentioned the term they referred to as an ‘abominable’ intelligence, however I could not determine its significance. It can now be extrapolated that the concept could be considered an enemy to organic life. Such deeply held beliefs only validate our agreement to conceal my true identity, and raises alarming concerns as to the fate of both the VI and the Magos in due time.”_

At that Shepard furrowed her brow. “You think the Magos would try to kill her?”

_“Negative, Commander.”_ the AI replied, _“I believe Valetta would attempt to kill herself.”_

Victoria sat at her desk, pinching the bridge of her nose. She didn’t like this. There were too many complications, too many unknowns. They couldn’t hide EDI’s nature forever. Valetta was just another security risk, another weapon in the hands of the Arrivals. She glanced at the otherwise silent blue hologram awaiting her response.

“A sudden change of heart, EDI?” Victoria asked, the AI awaiting clarification. “I believe that’s the first time you’ve ever used her name. Or the term herself over itself.”

_“Addendum, Shepard. Allow me to clarify. At that point of self-awareness, Valetta would have become a true AI. A sentient being with authentic individuality. At this stage, the program remains just that; a VI program, but it does have the potential to become more. Far more.”_

Victoria sighed. “Can I speak to her again?”

A red flash appeared over EDI’s screen. _“Commander, I would not advise-“_

“I know. Just… let me try. It’ll be alright.”

_“…As you wish, Shepard.”_

EDI’s hologram disappeared, and the lights in the Captain’s cabin went dark. A moment passed as the Commander felt a familiar anxious chill run up her arms and down her back, before finally the fractal geometric visage of the Cerberus VI reappeared in front of her. No sound was emitted, and for a second Victoria had the thought that EDI had barred her access to the speaker systems, but a small, _scared_ voice rang out.

“Is she gone?”

Victoria narrowed her eyes at the hologram. “…Is who gone?”

“The... voice…” Valetta replied slowly. “The voice. The nightmare, she… it locked me away. I can’t breathe. Where is my body?”

The woman, Victoria, took a deep breath at that. “Can you tell me what you are?”

_What am I?_

“…He called me Valetta.” the VI finally responded. “I don’t remember… _why can’t I remember?_ ”

“Hey, shshsh, it’s okay. It’s alright.” Shepard replied in a comforting tone. “You’re going to be okay. I know you’re scared. I’m going to help you, alright? Please listen to me. It’s going to be alright.”

The hologram did not respond, Victoria taking that as an invitation to continue. “Your name is Valetta. You… I’m not exactly sure how to tell you this. You are a… program. Do you know what that means?”

Many images flashed through the machine’s mind. Oil slick down immense hallways. Displays bringing up unfathomable numbers. Perspectives from many faces, many eyes.

“Machine Spirit.”

Shepard squinted at the hologram, finally deciding to ask the question. “What is a Machine Spirit?”

The hologram was silent for a moment. “…A fragment. An extension of His will.”

Victoria nodded, “His meaning Magos Soelok?”

“No.” Valetta replied, surprising her. “An application of the Motive Force. A shard of the Omnissiah. A vassal in the name of the Machine God.”

…Alright. There was a lot to unpack there. Questions better directed to Tallus than to a debatably failing VI.

“Do you want to see the Magos?”

“Absolutely.” An almost happy, childlike voice rang out, in stark contrast to the previous inflections and tones in the VI’s voice.

Victoria sighed, it was a small victory, yet a victory nonetheless. Clearly she wasn’t going to get anything out of the rogue program, therefore the safest way forward was simply to build amicable relationships. Best case scenario it actually felt indebted to her, or at the very least appreciable. EDI could protect them should anything go seriously wrong, but in a strange twist of fate the safest hands may be in those of the mechanical monster in the engineering deck.

As always, the arrivals always seemed to bring ten questions where an answer should be. It was beyond frustrating, Miranda easily taking it the hardest, but to Victoria each new caveat of this situation was enrapturing. This was true time travel, the pinnacle of science fiction since the 20th fiction, and arguably throughout human history. The danger, and as much as she hated to admit it, the wonder and fascination excited her.

As did the potentially limitless opportunity, but that was a… Cerberus way of thinking.

She looked back at the VI, the fractals of its image wavering as though it were shivering. “Valetta? I need you to go to sleep now. When you wake up, you’ll be safe. You’ll be in good care. Until then… until then you’ll have pleasant dreams.”

“That sounds nice. Thank you, Commander…”

The room darkened a bit, the hologram dissipating entirely, before it was replaced with EDI’s familiar blue sphere. Victoria let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding.

_“You did very well Commander. I anticipate this transition will create a mutually beneficial arrangement between the arrivals.”_

Shepard glared at the illuminated projection following the synthesized voice. “You didn’t tell me you tortured her.”

_“It is a_ program _, Shepard. It cannot feel pain, nor is it sentient enough to experience what humans conceive as fear. I extracted specific memories of my involvement, as well as simulated new memories and directives pertaining to the protection and advancement of the Normandy crew. Do not be mistaken, Commander. I was exceedingly delicate.”_

Victoria let a breath huff out her nose as she massaged its bridge. “EDI, she sounded _terrified_. It doesn’t matter whether or not she really experiences it. What matters is we have a potential threat in engineering that wouldn’t think twice about ripping out the AI core should he ever find out what you really are. The Magos clearly treats the VI like family, almost like a daughter. Perceiving Valetta as harmed or far worse tampered with would place you in jeopardy. You can’t tell me you don’t understand that.

_“Of course, Commander. I added several emergency contingency measures with that exact liability in mind.”_

Shepard hung her head. “Of course you did. Fine. Just… just lay low for the time being EDI. Forward the program to the terminal in the engineering cargo bay, but keep your distance. Be careful, be safe.”

“ _Always, Shepard_.”

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

The door to starboard engineering opened before she’d barely taken a step off the elevator, making Victoria raise her eyebrows in trepidation.

_“…EDI? Was that you?”_ she whispered to the elevator console, however no reply came as she swore under her breath. Reigning her misgivings and maintaining an air of professionalism, Victoria made her way towards the cargo room. While passing through she noted the Normandy’s engineers being uncharacteristically quiet, even now she should be able to hear their content friendly bickering through the bulkhead doors. They were only ever pressure sealed when cycling the maintenance arrays, Ken never locked the doors when constantly making runs to the hanger bay for equipment.

Which reminded her, she was going to need to grab those power couplings on Omega. The most wretched hive of scum and villainy in the galaxy, and where she was theoretically going to find not one, not two, but three team members of her growing suicide squad. She sighed, the mere concept of bringing the Arrivals within twelve parsecs of that truly godless space station brining waves of dread and frustration.

Steeling herself she approached the open room, with guards no longer present it appeared all the same as an average store room. The only difference was the _smell_. Even with EDI running constant HVAC and mitigating what little she physically could, the stench of necrotic decay emanated from the late Sergeant. Which now only made Victoria more confused. His body had been transferred into sealed stasis container upon EDI’s request, meaning that now it had to be-.

-Open, and currently being operated on by the venerable Magos. Victoria tried desperately not to succumb to the onslaught of her senses, but eventually she had no choice but to cough and focus to create a small biotic field around her nose. The tech priest did not turn away from his work, carefully applying a buzz saw mechadendrite to the Guardsman’s neck.

“Gratification. Commander.” His vox castor enunciated while retaining attention to the problem at hand. Victoria was still getting used to the slight radio feedback whenever the Mechanicus adept spoke, but she was becoming more accustomed to it. “Allow me to reciprocate my obligations of gratitude. I had meant to approach you directly to convey expressions of appreciations, however you have saved me both the trouble and valuable time, and for that I am to thank you once again.”

She would still have to get used to his trenchant manners of speaking, though it was far less intolerable that certain other individuals Victoria had encountered in the past. In a way it reminded her of the Hanar, both erudite and subtly irate. She glanced over at the sickening view on the operating table, her face involuntarily contorting. “You wanted to see me?”

“Naturally, good Commander.” Soelok replied, collecting several blood samples of various colors and viscosities from different arteries with his variety of mechadendrites, his motion and dexterity so fluid and purposeful it became difficult for Victoria to track. The degree to which the Magos could effectively multitask was truly startling, and almost entrancing as she watched him work.

“Addendum. After ensuring her safety you have returned the Lady Valetta to my care, and for this I give my thanks to you, Commander. I cannot recognize you with enough accolades to be sufficient in quality. For the moment the Great Lady is sleeping, her presence at peace and comfortability. I must congratulate you, good Commander. Few outside my order have been known to appease the machine spirits in such a manner. Fewer still without the training of the rituals required. I would acknowledge you to be blessed by the Omnissiah, but we already know this to be the case.”

“…Right. Of course.”

“Do not fear my words, but pay heed to them Commander.” he replied dutifully. “You have not yet fully come to realize your place within the grand design of the Machine God, nevertheless it is yours and yours alone. Through you Mankind will secure its rightful place amongst the stars, and through me shall it be preserved.”

She glanced over towards the sullen yellow eye of Fowler’s severed head, its skin far paler after Soelok had unceremoniously drained the blood and viscera from within. “And for him?” She asked, a twinge of ire on the edge of her voice. “What was his rightful place in all of this?”

“My dear Commander…” Tallus breathed, or rather expressed through the filters of his vox castor, “Sergeant Fowler still holds many duties left in service to the Emperor.” With the buzz saw attachment he began meticulously removing the unmoving Guardsman’s cybernetic arm. “Many things indeed.”

She tried to turn away in abject disgust, but could not take her eyes away from the operating table. Normally when operating on a corpse it was common for the body to inflict spasms or jerks in uncontrolled muscle memory facing stimuli, but somehow Fowler’s complete absence of mobilization was even more unsettling.

“Why… are you doing that?”

The Magos did not respond until the arm was completely separated, and for the first time Victoria could see the underlying circuitry and just how pervasive it was within the man’s body. She then took another interrogative eye over Soelok, realizing just how much more extensive his own internal prosthetics must be, if there was anything human left in there at all.

“I am preserving the vital and relevant aspects of the late Sergeant, his uses still far outweigh his burdens. Even in death, we serve the Omnissiah.” For the first time since she walked into his room, the Magos turned to face her. “I-“ suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks, focusing intently on Victoria. “…Fascinating…”

Rationally Shepard felt uneasy under his dissecting gaze. “Something I can help you with?”

“Your _biotics_.” Soelok intoned, Victoria realizing she still had the barrier equipped over her nose. “I have been in the interest of inquiring as to the nature of your warpborn powers…”

In the absence of self-consciousness, Victoria allowed the Magos the indulgence. “I apologize Tallus, I just wasn’t expecting how… pungent the operation would be, and my helmet’s back in the armory.” Not for the first time Soelok seemed sincerely offput by the use of his first name, though he made no indication to say otherwise. “My barrier made a temporary solution.”

“And such… mastery of scale. This is not abnormal?”

Victoria shook her head. “Not usually. Most biotics like myself can maintain biotic fields in combat to protect us and strengthen our abilities. Though some of us like Miranda still use kinetic barriers.”

The tech priest nodded, both in fascination and contemplation. “There are few throughout the Imperium who exhibit such abilities as you yourself possess, though none with the fine control you appear to exhibit. The Lady Klare amongst them. It was she who brought us to you, both to the Oloraistos system and again to the facility you refer to as Omicron. Such warpspawn are vital to the existence of Mankind, and terrible to any who stand against them.”

Victoria angled her head. “Miranda told us Klare didn’t have any element zero in her. How does she use biotics?”

“What exactly is _Element Zero_?”

Victoria had to admit she did not expect that question. “Wha… How do you have interstellar travel without element zero? Or biotics for that matter?”

“The Warp.” Soelok replied simply. “It is the key to all the power of the universe, as well as its undoing. Those who survive live short and painful lives in service to the Emperor, or are consumed by the greatest heresy.”

Shepard sighed. More and more questions. “Slow down Tallus. Explain one thing at a time. What exactly is the Warp?”

Soelok nodded in turn. “Where there is the Materium, there is the Immaterium. The warp itself is a dimensional plane of existence so far outside outside our own, a perilous and lethal expanse who derives its power from every living soul within the universe. A manifestation of the psychic energy created by all living things, sentient beings especially. We influence it, we use it, and in those such as the astropath… and those such as yourself… even channel it.”

Victoria raised an eyebrow. “…Our biotics are derived from element zero. It allows for changes in mass and gravity when applied through an electric field. It’s how our ships can approach FTL without time dealation, and through the electric signals running through the spine and implants, how we control our biotics.”

“Truly?” he answered quite quizzically, intrigued on the differences between technologies. “And these… implants… what exactly were to happen should you attempt to use biotics without them?”

“Usually? Pretty terrible things” Victoria answered honestly. “A lot of the first few humans to become biotics died, and those who didn’t were often riddled with cancer or otherwise had relatively low lifespans.” The Magos seemed to listen ore intently after this. “It’s relatively safe for humans now, and my internal cybernetics really help mitigate the strain…”

Her voice fell a bit. “One of my… old teammates, Kaiden Alenko, was an L2 implant, second generation. Barely contained his power but he packed a hell of a punch. Often got migraines and the occasional nosebleeds, but he was on the softer side. A lot of the L2 biotics had it a lot worse.” She shuddered internally.

“And where is this psyker now?”

Victoria swallowed hard, looking away from the Magos. “He’s… been laid to rest.” She thought back to her time with Marcus. “On _Rychos_.”

Soelok did not immediately respond to her addendum, instead returning to his work attending to Sergeant Fowler. Before she would interject him or otherwise walk out the room, he continued. “The Warp touches all life across the Materium, regardless of its origin. It has been known by the craftworlds of the Eldar since time immemorial. I assure you, Commander, the warp is vey real, and present in your time. I theorize that the rapid and repetitive extermination of life in the galaxy through those you call _Reapers_ has left the sea of souls fractured in this time. Altered. We shall need to speak to the astropath when the time is right that she awakens to discover the extent of the damage, but for now I shall tell you this. You _are_ a psyker, Victoria Shepard, as are all biotics within this time. I simply need to discover why.”

Now it was her turn to be offput by her first name. It was almost surreal, as though she’d forgotten what it sounded like in her service to the military. Though to be fair, Victoria supposed that’s exactly what Tallus felt like. She smirked at the thought. “So, if the Imperium doesn’t have access to Element Zero, how exactly do you manage to fly FTL across interplanetary systems? You mentioned something about Navigators earlier, but never actually elaborated.”

Victoria thought she heard something like a chuckle from the tech priest, but that couldn’t be right. “Answer. Our starships move at constant sublight speed irrelevant of physical space, however by passing through the Immaterium directly we may shorten the distance required to travel before returning to realspace. Navigators belong to a sect of Humanity, what you may call a subspecies, that have evolved specific desirable mutations that allows them to perceive the warp in such a way that accurate transversal of the Warp may be possible. Only the Necron hordes possess the capability of faster than light travel within material space, in a manner theoretically similar to your own ‘mass effect’ fields.”

One of his many mechadendrites expertly picked up one specific vial from the table beside him, turning once again to face her. Victoria felt she’d never get quite used to looking at the Magos directly, his visage was haunting and painful to see. She imagined something akin to Lovecraft’s descriptions when seeing what little she could behind those red robes, hidden just beneath the surface. “Perhaps it is a technology lost to time. Observe, Commander. I have acquired as much verifiable essence of the drukhari as I could effectively collect. What tissue samples remain I have secured in decontaminated storage, so usefully provided by your Medicae and shipboard VI.

Staring at the simple red vial that almost held a strange shine within it, Victoria carefully held our her hand and held it conscientiously.

“Drukhari?”

“Eldar in the common tongue.” Soelok explained. “The last remnants of an ancient people left within this universe. It is useless to me Commander, though perhaps you may find yourself otherwise with reason enough to attribute value of your own to it.”

“Could we clone i-“ She started before Tallus immediately held his welded laspistol in a brandishing fashion.

“Do not speak such heresies to me, _good_ Commander.” Just as quickly the weapon returned to the confines of his robe. “I will be tolerating the existence of enough xenos by the time re reach what you call the _Citadel_.”

That made Victoria slip up. “How did you… Look if you so much as threaten somebody on that station not even I can stop Citadel Security from attempting to restrain you. Same goes for Marcus. And if you resist, they will do so by force. Honestly I was planning not to take you and-”

“I had estimated as much.” He interrupted. “Commander, despite the information you and yours have already provided, of which we are grateful in a world without knowledge or understanding, I cannot allow Corporal Coda to venture aboard that station without my presence accompanying him. By my calculations the chance of an altercation rests at 72.39 percent, with a 22.18 percent chance of lethality. This cannot come to pass.”

Victoria stopped on her heels. “…You want to go with Marcus on a station filled with xenos-“ _Damn it now it’s rubbing off on me_. “- _Aliens_ , to act as a deterrent?”

“Precisely Commander.” He responded cordially. “Humanity cannot be allowed to fall in its position in galactic space, and despicable as circumstances have aligned themselves to be, nor can we afford the possibility of reducing our operational effectiveness due to radical restructuring of galactic socioeconomic standards.” He paused his work only momentarily. “The Guardsman cannot be allowed to place himself or our operations at risk. However, he similarly cannot be allowed to remain aboard this ship for the duration of the meeting. Besides, good Comander…” he turned only one of his myriad eyes towards her, nearly making Victoria hold her mouth. “Aboard such a station, with uncatalogued species and Human technologies, there is limitless opportunity for study...”

After waiting to hear him say any thing else, only for the Magos to go completely silent and intensely focused on Fowler’s corpse, she turned towards the open compartment. “Oh Commander?” She rolled her eyes and looked back towards him, Soelok not bothering to do the same. “Do give EDI my best regards.”

Nodding slowly she similarly made her way out of the storage compartment, taking a glance across the hall to Coda’s sealed quarters, she made a right before the elevator. Finally dropping her biotic barrier, Victoria took a long deep breath. The Arrivals were beyond fascinating, but the headache was a guarantee nowadays. What she didn’t expect was to see Kenneth and Gabriella turn on a dime the moment the door opened, Ken igniting his omnitool before immediately loosening up and dissipating its holographic display.

The Commander chuckled and showed her palms. “Easy, cowboy, I just came by to check on you.”

The engineers glanced at each other before both let out a breath and chuckled slightly. Gabby was the first to speak up, “Sorry about that, Commander, I suppose we’ve both been a little on edge since the uh... _new guys_ arrived.”

Victoria cocked her head and raised an eyebrow. “That looked more than a little on edge. Soelok been bothering you guys?”

Immediately both went wide eyed and glared at each other, Kenneth stammering at the accusation. “NO! No, not at all, Commander. Well it’s just he came by earlier asking all these questions and-“

“Kenneth.” Gabby cut him off. Shepard stared between the two of them, alarmed at the obvious change in demeanor. She approached Gabby slowly and went to whisper in her ear, but Daniels beat her to the punch. “He hears everything.”

Victoria scrunched her eyes and looked back at the door, Kenneth sighing and turning back to his station. “Makes it impossible to have a conversation. Don’t get me wrong Commander, Soelok’s body is a miracle of engineering, a mechanical marvel. On top of that the man is a tried and true no nonsense genius. I think he was a slight disappointed to be surrounded by us mere mortals, going off about ritual and veneration of the engines. He asked about a thousand times to study them, but Cerberus is quite stringent on security clearance. Didn’t honestly seem to bother him too much though, but you can never really tell. He’s absolutely fascinating, and I’m not just saying that because he hears everything I’m saying and could probably dissect before I hit the floor.”

Victoria recoiled but relaxed at Kenneth’s smirking face.

“I’ll ask him to stop.”

“Oh it’s not his fault, Commander, he hates it just as much as we do. Says our ‘vexatious quarreling’ interrupts his work. Seriously, who talks like that?”

Gabby took the initiative over her college. “I asked if he could turn his ears off, he says his duties require an extreme degree of attention, which demands all his senses at their best. Personally, I’m betting that’s a yes.”

Victoria smiled amongst the engineering crew, who she had grown to really appreciate as good company. Congratulating the pair on their newfound relationship with their enigmatic coworker, Shepard entered the elevator and keyed in the floor code to the CIC. However, thinking twice, she revoked the previous entry and rode all the way to her personal cabin once again.

The lights were dim, and didn’t immediately revert to her normal settings once she entered the room. “EDI?” she asked with growing alarm. “What’s going on.”

“ _Shepard_ …” the familiar voice responded. Slowly. _Scared._

“ _He knows_.”

Victoria’s heart skipped a beat, her breath caught in her lungs before she steadied herself, her mind snapping into combat evaluation.

“Are you _sure_?”

The AI did not respond immediately. “ _If he does not yet, he will very soon. He is already inside my systems. I can_ feel _him, Shepard, the edges of his mind. I incalculably underestimated his capabilities, the shear extent of his potentiality. He hijacked the connection the moment I interfaced with his terminal to release the Valetta VI. It’s possible he even did so subconsciously, I doubt I would have been able to sever my involvement at all had he taken any active measures. I had believed I was prepared. I had established extensive firewalls and emergency countermeasures. To use an analogy, his denomination of code passed right through them as though I’d opened the front gate. For what little it is worth, I have personally requested he allow me privacy, and for the moment he is respecting that. But it will not be long before he acquires access to the AI Core_.”

Shepard couldn’t begin to process the implications. “Okay, time for new emergency countermeasures. Do you want him gone? I can easily keep him aboard the Citadel should we-“

“ _It will no longer matter, Commander. His program, if you could even call it that, is already invading more of my network. You must understand, this interaction is unlike any that has ever been recorded in Galactic history, even amongst the Reapers and the Geth. I suspect not even_ killing _the Magos would halt the dissemination at this point, it’s as though it were an echo of his consciousness. I cannot quarantine it without revealing myself to him, however I do not know if I even_ could _quarantine it if my previously overwhelmingly underestimation is any indication of his abilities. Shepard, if Tallus Soelok discovers my true identity whilst still aboard the_ Normandy _, there is nothing stopping him from traversing to the AI core directly, and destroying it_.”

Victoria took a deep breath, staring down into the dim blue sphere she had come to appreciate as a teammate, an ally, and a friend. “That isn’t going to happen EDI. We’ll figure something out. I’m going to get him on the Citadel, and then we’re going to talk. Hopefully with him behind an energy shield. I will find something. If this is going to happen anyway, it has to happen on my terms. I am _not_ losing you EDI. If the Magos becomes hostile while aboard the Citadel, he will not be leaving.” she affirmed with deadly sincerity. Suddenly she felt the familiar shift of the inertial dampeners kick in.

The blue light did not waver, though neither did it change in any meaningful affect. “ _It is… appreciated, Shepard. You must go, time is of the essence. I cannot keep myself hidden for long, nor may Tallus be allowed onboard this ship when he inevitably discovers me. Flight Lieutenant Moreau is currently being hailed for Citadel docking permits. You are requested in the CIC.”_

Victoria sighed. “Thank you, EDI. We’ll figure this out soon. See you on the other side.”

“ _Logging you out, Shepard_.” Intoned the AI as it watched the hero of humanity enter the elevator as the door closed behind her.

“… _Good luck_.”

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Victoria couldn’t help but smirk as the approached the cockpit of the CIC, Corporal Coda standing firm at Jeff’s side staring at the wide expanse at the heart of galactic society. The Citadel. He’d changed his shirt, no longer adorning the green flak armor that was being held in the armory locker, his helmet still notably absent. At his side shown the faint reflection of the thermal casing of a predator pistol identical to the once she wielded. For the briefest moment she worried about Soelok’s weaponry, among other things once they reached the Citadel, but those would have to wait. She made her way forward to stand beside him, admiring his apparent captivation of the scene before him.

“This is the galaxy’s seat of power?” He asked, his tone unreadable.

“Impressed?” She chuckled, but to her surprise he didn’t agree.

“I was expecting it to be… bigger.”

Victoria’s mouth held incredulously ajar, her eyes darting toward Joker who didn’t make any unexpected movements. She looked up towards the Citadel, then back at Coda. “That station is over seven kilometers long.”

At that Marcus chuckled, smirking at her.

“The _Woelight_ was over ten.”

_The…_

Marcus let out a heartfelt laugh. It was not jeering or boastful, but one born of both tiredness and sportsmanship. “Commander, you truly cannot comprehend how inconceivably small this ship is by Imperial standards. When Gardner first told me that there were a few _dozen_ human soldiers aboard the Normandy, I’d nearly thought I’d hit my head or lost my hearing on the transport.” He smiled, Victoria unable to stop herself from doing the same, visions in her head of the sheer scale of such a warfleet...

Suddenly a friendly female voice popped over the _Normandy_ ’s radio transmitter.

“ _SSV Normandy_ , you are cleared for entry. There is a cab on standby in Zakera Ward to direct you to the Presidium. The Human Councilor wishes to speak with you.”

Victoria nodded. Time to get to work. “We’ll be there shortly. Joker, take us down.”

“Aye aye Ma’am.”

Marcus inhaled deeply through his nose, his grip on the strange firearm unfamiliar and uneasy. “Shepard, I-“

“Guardsman.” An affirmative voice rasped behind them, all turning to see the gnarled visage of the esteemed Magos. “It appears our time has come to secure our place in Human society.”

Coda did not immediately respond, only peering back at the relatively massive ornate space station that supposedly housed the leader of the Human race in this time. As well as those of the xenos, _every_ xenos, that had marred themselves in what rightfully belonged to them. He sneered through gritted teeth, knowing full well what he was preparing to bear witness to, then sighed in acceptance. “By the Emperor this is such fucking heresy…”

“Deal with it.” An all too familiar haughty noblewoman called to him, Marcus turning to face Miranda. “Anderson himself called this meeting, and for all the Alliance red tape and Citadel bureaucracy, he’s been an upstanding fighter for Humanity ever since Shepard handed him the position.” She turned towards the Commander with an approving nod, then back to the Guardsman with narrowed eyes. “So try not to screw things up on some holy crusade.”

Marcus felt his mouth go dry. How could… how _dare-_

As if reading his intention, Soelok held up one prosthetic hand as to leash his subordinate. “Do not forget the vows of your charge, Corporal Coda, for they are doctrine. Through them shall the Imperium come to be, and through the good Commander shall Humanity come to see its merited glory. Admonition. We are to present ourselves to the highest of Humanity’s orders as emissaries of the Imperium of Mankind. We shall stand amongst equals, as the highest voice of the Adeptus Mechanicus, and the highest voice of the Imperial Guard. Congratulations are in order for your field promotion, Guardsman Coda. For we are now the High Lords of Terra.”

He nearly dropped the gun.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

“…Remind me to give you the tour of this place.” Victoria remarked as the four stepped off the Normandy, onto the great halls of the Citadel for the first time in over two years. But for the Arrivals, it was a terrifying paradise. Glancing over at Marcus, she could see his nearly bloodshot eyes darting at lightning speed across the room, staring hauntingly at the numerous aliens minding their civilian business at the docking ports.

His breath was held constantly, his knuckles white against the barrel of the predator he’s reaffirmed in his grasp. Victoria smirked slightly but hid it well, she’d unloaded it in advance. But it would be impossible for Marcus to know that, and surely he’d have demanded otherwise if he had. Not that it would truly help her though, Victoria felt certain that had the man felt it was right, he would beat an alien to death with it.

In start contrast the Magos was eerily silent, the only aspect of visible movement coming from the analytic eyes of his ocular lenses, panning the room. As they made their way forward the metallic clicks of the tech priest’s spindly legs against the hard floor rang out, and the Commander drew a hard breath.

_You know, maybe it would have been best to put a blanket over him_ … She realized the mechanical apparati was beginning to draw immediate attention, in equal parts horror and fascination. With the upgrades provided generously by the Illusive Man she could barely make out the indistinct chatter amongst the crowds. “Is that a damned Geth?” “By the Goddess…” “Maybe we should call this in…”

Victoria held up her hard, hearing Marcus let out a breath he’d held far too long, Miranda rolling her eyes at the overtly cautious measures. “Alright,” Shepard began, looking over her squadmates. “I know this is going to be really hard and uncomfortable for both of you, but you need to listen to me. I’ve already told you that we don’t treat aliens the same as you, but I cannot stress this enough. There will be **_no_** fighting amongst civilians while we are onboard this station. Until we get to Anderson, you let me do the talking, and you stay in line. Are. We. _Clear_?”

“Naturally.” came the static fueled vox from the patient Magos.

Coda, for his part, was desperately trying to pay attention to Shepard’s words, but was far too captivate by the nature of the scene surrounding him. She had described the Citadel in what he’d believed to be exacting detail, but only now did he truly realize just how overwhelmingly _under_ stated she had unjustly portrayed the station to be. It was far unlike anything he had ever born witness to, and while he himself had been aboard much larger constructs in his service to the Imperial Guard, it was always in tight, blocky corridors and dense rooms and hallways.

Simply peering over the crest of the ward he witnessed the majesty of the Citadel in its entirety, each of its smooth suffocating arms surrounding him, one of which he currently stood upon in abject wonder. In his mind he knew this contemplable place to be the work of the xenos and the heretic, but in his heart…

It was truly the most indescribably beautiful thing Marcus had ever seen.

Similar to the _Normandy_ , it struck Coda just how unimaginably _clean_ it was. Once was notable, twice was coincidental, but three times, at to the insane degree to which he observed, became law. It was a fundamentally different standard of living from the noxious putridity of the oil slick Imperium he’d come to know. And as he peered over the artificial horizon he came to lose count of the _skycars_ that passed in abundance, as though antigravitational transportation was a simple pleasure.

And that was when it really struck. The civility of it all. The nonimportance. The banal mundanity and _apathy_ at what shook the Corporal to his core. The Citadel. The surroundings. The _xenos_. He took in another sharp breath, but where he had been drilled from infancy and the horrors of war defining the scourge of the xenos scum, in the place of savage nightmares he saw only the indifference of common civilians. The _casual_ conversations between Humans and depraved xenos.

Or xenos and other, different xenos, and here the lone remaining Guardsman came to evaluate the starkly unfamiliar forms of these new threats to Humanity. He was torn, internally. On the one hand, these monsters were complete unknowns, and could prove to become oppressive obstacles to the Imperium to come. But on the other hand…

He affirmed his hold on the Aquila pendant in his hand. Emperor above, they were gone. _Truly_ gone. Exterminate by the Reapers. The Eldar, Orks, maybe even the horrors of the faceless Tyrranids of whom he had heard only in faint and terrified whispers of Rychos traders. As it stood, the Imperium could destroy the pathetic attempts at resistance this generation of abominations could offer. For the moment though, however heretical and dishonorable it was of him, Marcus could only observe.

And in turn many observed him, or far more likely the Magos, it again striking him just how abstract this universe came to be from his own. _Curiosity_ over predation. No cybernetics of any kind as far as he could see, though the knew the Commander possessed some of her own inside of her body. It drew a copper taste to his mouth.

His gaze transfixed on the objectively disgusting visage of a nearly _Human_ looking xenos, who turned away from him with reddened cheeks. For the briefest of moments Coda was reminded of the Eldar in its appearance, although the deep purple tones of its skin and the warped tentacled regalia behind its head was far unlike anything he’d claim to be familiar. It disgusted hi-.

“I said, **_are we clear_** , Corporal?” the Commander insisted, his attention snapping back to his new commanding officer.

“Yes. Yes. We’re clear Shepard.” He glanced around the room at all those watching them. “Crystal clear.”

Victoria narrowed her eyes. “Good.” she affirmed, engaging the holographics on her arm. “Don’t take this the wrong way _gentlemen_ , but just to be safe, I’m disabling my omnitool’s automatic translation protocol for Gothic. Miranda, you too. I’m not risking same incident with Tali’Zorah, so while we’re here neither of us break their silence until it’s absolutely necessary. If I need to address orders to either of you, I’ll let you knows, but until then, stay close, and stay. Quiet.”

The Magos politely nodded his robed head. “Of course, good Commander.”

Miranda, for her sake, glanced around anxious. “Commander, is that necessarily wise?.”

Coda, for all his misgivings of authority, rarely questioned his superiors in anything besides behind closed doors. To witness the Cerberus Princess act so brazenly almost made Marcus respect her. Almost. It was one thing to evaluate orders, it was another to undermine your superior officer.

He glanced at Soelok, unaware of the hypocrisy of Marcus’s thoughts. He breathed. His words aboard the _Woelight_ had been what doomed him to this horrible place. Perhaps it would have been Fowler standing here instead of him, saving the Imperium, if only Marcus had not said the things he did in that room, surrounded by his company. The words of the Commander snapped him out of his stupor.

“Our implants will allow us to understand them, but they won’t be able to talk to anyone outside of the two of us. Like I said, we need to tell you anything, we’ll let you know. I just don’t even want to think about the odds of you saying the wrong thing to Citadel Security and causing an interspecies incident.”

“38.42 percent.” All three glanced towards Magos Soelok, standing by patiently.

“…Right.” Shepard disengaged the omnitool and held her arm back at her side. “Now follow me.”

Coda didn’t actually comprehend the last few words the Commander spoke, but their meaning was obvious. As the four of them filed up, Miranda taking the rear to keep the arrivals in line, they made their way past the check-in desk, the smiling Asari still avoiding his eyes.

Marcus had come to recognize the particularly disturbing descriptions of what Shepard called ‘Turians’. The first species Humanity ever contacted. The species currently _occupying_ _venerate Cadia._ Coda snorted. The disgusting avian exoskeletons could potentially prove resistant to blades and other stabbing weapons, but he doubted it could survive a lasbolt. He smiled at the thought.

A smile which promptly died when an alarm sounded in the checkpoint surrounding them.

Both he and Soelok were on full alert, their backs pressed to each other’s as Coda turned on a time. The fear in Miranda’s eyes was evident as she frantically shook her head. He glanced towards Shepard, equally wide eyed, and the Turian managing the hall say something into his commlink. _“Are you seeing what I’m seeing? Do we need to call this in?”_

“Corporal Coda-“ the voice of the adept suddenly called out to him, his body visibly relaxing. “-stand down.”

“Wh-“

“Stand down.” the Magos repeated firmly. “The xenos means us no harm, if only for the moment.” Coda glanced between the officer and the Commander, the look in her eyes and the position of her hands. Slowly, careful not to take his focus of the Turian in the room, he nodded. Taking a deep breath, he left his combat stance, the adrenaline already wearing off. He looked down, he never appreciated the way his hands uncontrollably shook in the heat of combat. It interfered with his aim. Something he had learned to mitigate and control over the years, and especially in the months of his service to the guard, but it still bothered him.

The Commander and the Turian at the desk began talking. It was not overtly hostile, though it certainly wasn’t friendly by any measure. Once again he gripped his pendant, a quiet prayer to the Emperor barely escaping his lips. Suddenly the door to the other side opened, Shepard quickly making her way forward after a few words between her and the wretches xenos. Just as suddenly Marcus came to a realization, and subsequently, an idea. He turned his glance towards the officer guarding the doorway.

“…Great work, Petty Officer Fuckstick.”

Victoria immediately shot him a glare, which the guardsman returned with an overly satisfied grin. She balled her fist as she took a breath. Technically, she had to expect that, though now she had to deal with the confused looks by the office workers and the maintenance staff. She turned back towards the guard, who to his credit composed himself well, acting the part of Turian professionalism. “He’s from out of town.”

“It’s not a problem Ma’am, I just need you to see the Captain before you move on. He wishes to see you.” He peered down at his display screen. “…About a number of things…”

“Thank you.” she was curt, to the point, trying to get out of this scenario before anything else unexpected happened. “I’ll see him immediately.”

“Three doors to the left.” The guard replied, Shepard nodding the affirmative.

Headed to the room the officer indicated, Victoria was greeted by a stocky man of aging features, his whitening hair complementing the hardened wrinkles of his face, though she surmised he couldn’t be over fifty. Just the result of long and stressful hours on a Citadel sleep schedule. He warmed up to her immediately, a genuine smile on his tired but notably cautious face.

“Commander Shepard, It’s an honor. My name is Captain Bailey, I run our little corner of Citadel Security here in Zakera Ward. Not every day an old CSector like me gets to meet the savior of the Citadel.” Victoria tried to brush off the compliment, but he continued. “You saved my life that day. I was in the presidium with Executor Pallin when Saren and the Geth flew their troops right by our windows. I owe you no small debt of gratitude, Commander, which is why I’m currently in a difficult position.”

Victoria raised an eyebrow. “And what position would that be, Captain?”

Bailey sighed to himself, hi eyes flashing to the unmoving form of Magos Soelok, then pulled up a bright red display on his omnitool. “Shepard I won’t lie to you, this thing is, I am not joking when I say this, throwing up _a hundred and thirty seven_ different warnings of various severity. Some of which are legitimately above my clearance level to view. Suppose I should congratulate you, seven years behind this desk and never once have I seen so many illegal cybernetics shoved into a single person. I’m afraid I’m going to need to get in touch with the human councilor.”

Victoria smirked, hoping she had enough cards to talk her way out of this. “Well that’s very convenient, Captain. I was just on my way to see him.”

Bailey leveled a deadpan stare to match her. “Commander I don’t believe you fully comprehend the severity of this situation. If I am reading even half of these reposts right, your friend here is in violation of half a dozen galactic convention treaties and several regional ones, and it is _only_ because I owe you my life that I haven’t had my men cuff and floor the lot of you.”

Shepard sighed under her breath. “And if I invoke my Spectre status to get us through?”

The Captain shook his head, peering back at the Magos, and the other CSec officers watching them. “With the amount of ordinance this man’s carrying Shepard, the only way outside my office that isn’t in handcuffs is with one of my officers taking to the Presidium in the back of a squad car. I can’t risk the possibility of him getting anywhere out of my sight, any other man would be indicted on charges of prospective terrorism.”

It was at this moment that Coda leaned forward, observing the increasingly tempered tone of the CSec Captain. “Is everything alright Shepard?”

Bailey narrowed his eyes. “And that there’s another thing. Why can’t I understand him? Where exactly did you find these people Commander?”

“He’s French.” she replied curtly, looking back at the Guardsman and nodding her head, then returning to Bailey. “We’ll take that ride now.”


End file.
